The Russian media is spreading information that the Ukrainian military allegedly attacked the Russian city of Belgorod on the night of July 3, as a result of which people died. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs representative, Maria Zakharova, reported that "Moscow is closely monitoring the situation" and threatened Kyiv, saying, "if the provocations continue, then Kyiv will not get well." However, Ukraine did not shell the Russian city.

The governor of the Belgorod region of Russia, Gladkov, reported that the air defense system "probably worked" in the city but did not specify the reason. Then they announced the shelling "from the side of Ukraine." The Russian edition of The Insider published photo evidence that a part of the portable anti-aircraft missile system "Pantsir," which is not in service with the Ukrainian army but is in the Russian military, fell on a high-rise building in Belgorod. The representative of the President's Office, Mykhaylo Podoliak, said that the occupiers attacked their cities to blame Ukraine for this, and the explosions in Russian cities are the result of the actions of air defense systems operators who do not know how to work correctly. It is not the first time that Russia has accused Ukraine of "provocations" on Ukraine and its own territory to shift the blame for its war crimes.