Moscow: A rocket attack on the town of Rylsk in Russia’s Kursk region claimed the lives of six people, including a child, and left eight others injured on Friday evening. Authorities have accused Ukraine of launching the strike, allegedly using U.S.-supplied HIMARS rockets, marking another grim escalation in the ongoing conflict.
Alexander Khinshtein, the Acting Governor of the Kursk region, confirmed the attack in a statement, calling it a deliberate strike on peaceful civilian areas. He described the assault as a “bloody crime” and vowed that those responsible would face severe consequences. Emergency teams were dispatched to the town, which has a population of less than 15,000, to assess the damage and aid the victims.
“This was a calculated attack on public facilities and residential areas,” Khinshtein said, adding that several government officials, including Alexei Dedov, the acting chairman of the Kursk regional government, were sent to the site to oversee rescue operations. Videos circulating online revealed the devastation in Rylsk, with burning vehicles and destroyed buildings bearing witness to the ferocity of the strike.
Among the injured was a teenager who, along with seven others, received medical treatment at a nearby hospital. The incident has further fueled tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, with Russian officials decrying the use of Western weapons in attacks on their territory.
The assault on Rylsk came on the heels of a missile strike by Russia on Kyiv earlier the same day. Moscow described it as retaliation for a Ukrainian attack on a chemical plant in Russia earlier in the week. That strike killed one person and injured nearly a dozen others
