Update: Death toll in Belgorod apartment building collapse rises to 15

At least 15 people were killed in the Russian city of Belgorod after an apartment building collapsed on May 12, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry claimed.

Two children are among those killed, the ministry claimed.

According to the Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, a part of a 10-story apartment building collapsed there earlier in the day.

Gladkov also claimed that the building was hit by a Ukrainian projectile during an air raid alert in the oblast.

Russian air defenses allegedly shot down six Tochka-U missiles and six rockets over Belgorod Oblast, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The ministry claimed that the residential building was "damaged" by a Tochka-U missile fragment.

Ukrainian officials did not comment on the claims. The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the reports.

Claims of rocket or drone attacks against Belgorod Oblast, which borders Ukraine's Sumy, Kharkiv, and Luhansk oblasts, have become a common occurrence in recent months.

Read also: Ukraine claims downing of another Russian Su-25

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