Multiple Russian missiles strike in and around Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials say

At least five Russian missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and surrounding districts overnight, causing some damage to civilian buildings, local officials said.

Russia has been launching drones and missiles against various Ukrainian targets for months to destroy vital infrastructure.

Regional Governor Oleh Sinegubov, writing on the Telegram messaging service, said that one missile hit a house in the village of Kotliary, south of Kharkiv, while another caused a large fire in the city.

The reported attack came hours after authorities in the Russian city of Belgorod said 17 apartment buildings had been evacuated after an explosive device was found at the site where a bomb was accidentally dropped by a Russian warplane two days earlier.

Thursday’s mistaken bomb and subsequent explosion left a large crater and injured three people in Belgorod, just 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Russia’s Defense Ministry quickly admitted that an accidental launch of a weapon by one of its own Su-34 bombers caused the explosion.

The ministry said it was investigating but did not elaborate on the weapon, which military experts said was likely a powerful 500-kilogram bomb.

‘Explosive object’ is handled

Governor of Belgorod province, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported that sappers inspecting the site of the explosion found and decided to detonate what he called “explosive object” which is “in the immediate vicinity of the residential building.”

The precautionary evacuation was completed at noon, according to Belgorod Mayor Valentin Demidov.

“The bomb was removed from the residential area. Residents were sent back to their homes,” Demidov wrote in Telegram.

Russian authorities did not say whether the detonated device fell accidentally on Thursday, and if so, if it was left over or separate from the bomb that exploded in the city.

Belgorod has faced regular drone attacks since Russia sent troops into Ukraine last year.

Russian authorities blamed the attack on the Ukrainian military, which did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack.

Moscow expels German diplomats

Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has frozen relations with the West, with the expulsion of diplomats on both sides.

On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the German authorities “decided on the mass expulsion of employees of the Russian diplomatic mission in Germany.”

A ministry statement said that “as a reaction to the hostile actions of Berlin,” Russia decided to “mirror” expulsions by Germany and “with limits” the maximum number of staff in the German diplomatic mission in Russia.

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia had expelled more than 20 German diplomats, Russian state media reported, but did not give an exact number.

Germany’s foreign ministry said it took note of the comments.

He said the German and Russian governments had been in contact in recent weeks on “the question of the staffing of their respective diplomatic missions” and that Saturday’s flight was in that context. It is not elaborate.

The German air force said earlier that a Russian plane had flown to Berlin with diplomatic permission on Saturday, but did not specify who or what was on board.

The special clearance is needed because the European Union closed its airspace to Russian aircraft shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.