The day after a wave of massive Russian attacks on Ukrainian territory, Moscow blames kyiv for a strike on this Russian town located not far from the border.
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The toll is growing. At least 18 people died and 111 were injured during an attack by the Ukrainian army on Belgorod on Saturday, December 30, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said. Among the injured to be deploredn this town bordering the Ukrainian border there are 15 children, the ministry said on Telegram. “In Belgorod, the death toll rose to 18 people, 111 residents were injured”, he wrote on Saturday evening. He says it is the deadliest attack on civilians in Russia since February 2022.
Images, published by the authorities, show cars on fire and buildings with broken windows. According to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, the city’s water supply system was also damaged.
The Ministry of Defense, for its part, stressed that anti-aircraft defense systems had destroyed 13 missiles over this region. He said a total of 32 Ukrainian drones had been neutralized near Moscow, as well as in the Bryansk, Kursk and Orel sectors, north of the Ukrainian border.
A meeting of the UN Security Council
“President Vladimir Putin was informed of the attack by the Ukrainian army on residential areas of Belgorod”, declared the Kremlin spokesperson, quoted by Russian agencies. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that this strike would not remain “unpunished”. He also assured that he had succeeded in intercepting two missiles and the “mostly” rockets launched against the city.
Russia has requested a UN Security Council meeting regarding the strike. He accepted it. “Today (…) there will be a meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Russia regarding the strikes on Belgorod,” announced the Russian mission to the United Nations. The information was confirmed to AFP by two members of the Council. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 10 p.m. Paris time.
Belgorod is 80 km north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which was heavily hit by Russian forces on Friday morning, according to Ukrainian authorities. In total, at least 30 people were killed and more than 160 injured in Ukraine on Friday in a large series of strikes across the country, according to kyiv.