Moscow claimed on Sunday that it attacked targets “military” in the Ukrainian city of Kharkivbut local authorities insisted that they were civilian buildings, in retaliation for the unprecedented attack that killed 24 people the day before in the Russian city of Belgorod.
Saturday, Russia had assured that it would not remainunpunished“the attack with missiles and rockets against Belgorodabout thirty kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
LOOK HERE: Russia calls for UN Security Council meeting after Ukrainian attack in Belgorod
Moscow insists that Kyiv is responsible, but Ukraine has remained silent until now.
These bombings killed 24 people and injured 108, according to a new report released by the region’s governor, Viatcheslav Gladkov.
Firefighters extinguish a fire in a building after a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv on December 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)
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“In response to this terrorist act, the Russian armed forces attacked decision-making centers and military installations.” in Kharkivdeclared the Russian Defense Minister on Sunday.
The governor of the Ukrainian region, Oleg Sinegoubovassured that the rockets hit a hotel, residential buildings, clinics and hospitals on Saturday night, injuring 28 people.
Among them were two teenagers and a British man, a security adviser to a team of German journalists, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Russia acknowledged having attacked a “old hotel complex“, he Kharkiv Palacebut he stated that members of military intelligence and the Ukrainian armed forces were there “involved” in the Belgorod attack, as well as “foreign mercenaries”.
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Firefighters extinguish a fire in a building after a Russian drone strike in Kharkiv on December 31, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)
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Moscow continues to deny attacking civilians in Ukraine.
The mayor of Kharkiv, Igor Terekhovstated that the drone attacks had also damaged “cafes, residential buildings and offices”, without reporting victims.
MORE INFORMATION: Russian air defenses shoot down three Ukrainian tactical missiles over Belgorod
49 drones
The Ukrainian Air Force He said he shot down 21 of the 49 Shahed drones of Iranian manufacture, launched against its territory during the night and aimed south and east.
Russian forces attacked Kharkiv, in the northeast of the country, with six guided missiles, the Air Force added without specifying whether they hit their targets.
Although kyiv regularly carries out attacks on Russian territory, using drones, this is the deadliest attack against civilians in Russia since the conflict began in February 2022.
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Forensics are working on December 30, 2023 in Kharkiv, in front of the building destroyed after a Russian missile attack, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by SERGEY BOBOK / AFP)
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The last few days have been marked by an escalation of violence between Russia and Ukraine.
On Friday, Ukraine declared mourning after what it called the most massive missile attack since the start of the conflict, not counting the first days of the war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky He claimed on Saturday afternoon that 39 people had died across the country, but other deaths have since been announced.
The governor of the region of Dnipropetrovsk, Sergei Lyssakdeclared on Sunday that one of the injured died in the hospital, bringing the death toll in his region to 7.
In kyiv, the death toll stands at 19, according to the capital’s military administration.
“Indiscriminate attack”
On Saturday, at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Belgorod attack, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vassili Nebenziaaccused kyiv of “an indiscriminate and deliberate attack against a civilian target”.
MORE INFORMATION: The story of hope and loss of the Ukrainian triplets who were born the day Russia invaded their country
The British representative Thomas Phipps He replied that “If Russia wants to blame someone for the deaths of Russians in this war, it should start with President Putin.”.
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, will deliver their speeches New Yearafter a 2023 marked by the failure of the Ukrainian summer counteroffensive and the almost complete freezing of the front line.
Ukraine begins a difficult year as Western aid begins to dwindle, raising the risk that the flow of ammunition and funds will dry up.
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