Belgorod residents urged to avoid taking children to kindergartens
The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced that several schools and colleges would cancel classes on March 18 and 19. In a broader note, it was stated that there would be no classes, including distance learning, in schools on Monday and Tuesday. The directive also covers border regions and Belgorod itself. Universities were advised to designate those days as holidays. Additionally, Gladkov asked residents to keep children away from kindergartens during this period. Shopping centers in the city were planned to remain closed on March 17 and 18.
Drone attack on Belgorod
In the morning of March 16, Gladkov reported that regional self-defense forces had shot down an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle near Maslova Pristan. Later, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that eight projectiles from the RM-70 Vampire multiple launch rocket system were intercepted over the Belgorod region. During the night of March 16, Russian air defense systems allegedly intercepted and destroyed eight Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the Kursk and Belgorod regions, according to the defense ministry.
The missile threat regime remained in effect across the Belgorod region through the night and into the morning. Citizens were advised to stay indoors if possible and avoid approaching windows while the warning was active.
Casualties reported
Following the morning bombardment, authorities reported damage across Belgorod, including 106 flats in 22 apartment buildings, a private residence, a garage, two social facilities, and two commercial establishments. Sixty-four cars were damaged in the area. In the village of Dubovoe, 13 private houses, two outbuildings, two garages, six cars, and a bus suffered damage. The facade of a shopping center and a store inside it were also damaged. In Razumnoye, two private houses and two cars were affected; in Severny, a private house and a car were damaged.
Two people were reported killed and three injured as a result of the bombardment. One man and one woman died, with the man driving a truck when a shell struck his vehicle and caused a collision with a passenger bus. No injuries were reported among those aboard the bus. The woman reportedly died in a garage cooperative where she had come with her son to feed the dogs. Doctors were treating the son, and the man who survived suffered shrapnel wounds to the head, shoulder, and chest.
Additionally, footage published by the Telegram channel Baza showed a security camera view of a shell hitting cars parked in front of homes. The clip captured the moment the explosion sent a car into the air, which rolled onto its side and toppled another vehicle nearby.