At a time when the war has separated – it seems irretrievably – Ukrainian and Russian culture, firing missiles at the hometown of Anton Chekhov, the greatest Russian playwright, should not be a serious matter for the Ukrainian armed forces. . Especially if in this very city, Taganrog, there is an air base.
Russia yesterday accused the “Ukrainian regime” of “terrorist attack against residential infrastructure in Taganrog”. Around four in the afternoon yesterday, a missile was shot down by the Russian anti-aircraft defense, its remains fell in the center of the city and caused a dozen injuries from shrapnel, ten of whom were admitted to the hospital in condition moderate, and one of them operated on for a head injury.
The largest of the remains of the missile left a crater five meters in diameter in the parking area of the Museum of Art, inside a block, also affecting the Chekhov Garden cafe and the stained glass windows of the state bank. “The museum wall, roof, garages and other rooms were destroyed,” Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev was quoted as saying by local media 161.ru.
An hour later, and according to the Russian Defense Ministry, another Ukrainian missile was shot down, this time near the city of Azov, and its remains would have fallen in an unpopulated area, although in the town of Sambek, in the Neklinovsky district, a metal object went through the roof of a house. The authorities of the Rostov region yesterday activated the anti-aircraft alarm through the media in anticipation of new attacks.
Taganrog, with about 250,000 inhabitants, is a port city on the Azov Sea, and the latter city, with the same name, is located about 40 kilometers on the opposite shore, very close to the city of Rostov-on-Don, the center of Russian military operations in Ukraine.
Taganrog is about 150 kilometers from the Donbass front line and, according to Russian media, the missile or missiles could have originated from the nearest Ukrainian-controlled point, Vuhledar, one of the important centers in the current counter-offensive. In both cases, according to the Russian ministry, they were S-200 anti-aircraft projectiles (of Soviet origin) modified for ground attack. Their target was probably the Taganrog airbase, just 10 kilometers from the city.
It is a base originally intended for large transport aircraft, but it also houses important repair shops even for combat aircraft. According to specialized media, planes sent to Belarus at the beginning of the invasion would have been transferred to this aerodrome, although according to the independent Russian media Historias Importantes, right now it would also host some Bériev A-50 early warning and control planes, Tupolev Tu-50 heavy bombers. 95, combat helicopters and drones. The irruption of missiles on Russia's southern border confirms that Kyiv is not limited to incursions into the northern border regions, in particular Belgorod, a regular target of bombardments.
In the morning hours of yesterday, the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, reported the shooting down of a Ukrainian drone over the capital region during the night, in what would be the second attack of these characteristics this week. Last Monday, two of these unmanned devices were shot down in Moscow by electronic means, and the remains of one of them fell two kilometers from the Ministry of Defense facilities. This time, Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attack.
