The Power Within: The Kyiv Independent’s first-ever magazine. Be among the first to get it.

pre-order now
Skip to content
Edit post

Russia claims to down Ukrainian drone following explosions in Belgorod Oblast

by Daria Shulzhenko June 9, 2024 6:27 PM 2 min read
The entrance to the Russian city of Belgorod, some 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, on May 28, 2023. (Olga Maltseva / AFP via Getty Images)
This audio is created with AI assistance

Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on June 9 that its air defense had downed a Ukrainian drone in Belgorod Oblast.

Local Telegram channels reported a loud explosion in the Rakityansky District in Belgorod Oblast earlier in the day, with photos and videos of smoke.

According to the Astra Telegram channel, locals claimed that a Russian ammunition depot had been hit.

Ukrainian authorities have not commented. The Kyiv Independent couldn't immediately verify the reports.

Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced a missile attack threat in his oblast at around 12 p.m. on June 9. Later in the day, he reported that a fire broke out at a non-residential building in Rakityansky District.

Gladkov also claimed there were no victims and that residents living nearby had been evacuated to a safer area.

Belgorod Oblast borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts. Claims of missile and drone attacks against the region have recently become a common occurrence after anti-Kremlin Russian militias' incursions into Russian territory.

The U.S. gave Ukraine permission to use American weapons to strike targets in Russia across the border from both Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts, Michael Carpenter, senior director for Europe at the U.S. National Security Council, told the TSN news program on May 31.

Military intelligence: Collaborant ex-mayor of Kupiansk in ‘critical condition’ after assassination attempt in Russia
The life of Hennadii Matsehora, the former mayor of the city of Kupiansk in the country’s northeast, was targeted on June 7 in the city of Stary Oskol in Belgorod Oblast, HUR reported in a Telegram post. It did not disclose further details about the incident.

News Feed

5:30 AM

Trump says he may meet Putin 'shortly' after May Middle East visit.

Despite ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Trump and Putin have yet to have direct contact, communicating only through their officials. Trump's last in-person encounter with his Russian counterpart was during the 2018 Helsinki Summit during the U.S. president's first term.
8:08 PM

Ukrainians react to US proposal of recognizing Crimea as Russian.

The U.S. media outlet Axios reported on April 23 that the U.S. President Donald Trump administration's final proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine war included the U.S. de jure recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea and de facto recognizing its control of other occupied Ukrainian territories. We asked Kyiv residents for their reactions to the U.S. proposal.
7:21 PM  (Updated: )

Trump says 'nobody is asking' Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian.

"Nobody is asking (President Volodymyr) Zelensky to recognize Crimea as Russian Territory, but if he wants Crimea, why didn’t they fight for it eleven years ago when it was handed over to Russia without a shot being fired?" U.S. President Donald Trump wrote.
MORE NEWS

Editors' Picks

Enter your email to subscribe
Please, enter correct email address
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required

Subscribe

* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Subscribe
* indicates required
Explaining Ukraine with Kate Tsurkan
* indicates required
Successfuly subscribed
Thank you for signing up for this newsletter. We’ve sent you a confirmation email.