At least fourteen people died this Saturday and more than a hundred were injured in the attack carried out by the Ukrainian army against the Russian city of Belgorod, capital of the homonymous region bordering Ukraine, reported the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations.
“According to new data, twelve adults and two children died. “108 people were injured, including fifteen minors.”says the official statement.
The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported that enemy artillery had fired on the city center, where about 330,000 people live.
For this reason, he recommended that the city’s population take shelter in the shelters and underground facilities provided for this purpose.
Among the buildings affected are the regional government headquarters and university buildings, as well as businesses and homes, according to the official RIA Nóvosti agency.
❗️ Russian Foreign Ministry: “British and American advisors directly participated in the organization of the terrorist attack against Belgorod” pic.twitter.com/GAgOHbyLiy
— RT in Spanish (@ActualidadRT) December 30, 2023
Belgrade
Belgorod, which shares a 552-kilometer border with Ukraine, has been the Russian region hardest hit by border incidents since the military conflict began in February 2022.
By order of the president, Vladimir Putin, a brigade from the Ministry of Health headed by the head of the portfolio traveled to the region.
“This crime will not go unpunished. “The kyiv regime, by committing this crime, is trying to divert attention from the defeat at the front and also provoke us to commit similar acts.”reported the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Sources from the Ukrainian secret services informed the press that what happened in Belgorod is a consequence of “unprofessional actions of the Russian air defense” and also “intentional provocations.”
“The Ukrainian defense forces are developing plans whose objectives are precisely military infrastructure,” the source told the online newspaper Ukraínska Pravda.
And they admit that Saturday’s attack against military targets in Russian territory is retaliation for “barbaric bombings” of Russia on Friday against several Ukrainian cities.
Ukrainian response
The Ukrainian army would have thus responded to the wave of massive bombings against the Ukrainian capital and the main cities of the country, the largest of the entire war, since Moscow used some 160 missiles and drones.
Precisely, the UN Security Council met urgently this Friday to discuss these attacks, which have left at least 39 dead and 160 injured, as reported today by the president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The general secretary of the HIM strongly condemned the attack, criticism joined by US President Joe Biden.
“He seeks to annihilate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped”he claimed.
Russian bombing caused damage to residential areas in Ukraine, a maternity hospital, schools, daycare centers, parks, a metro station, a shopping center and energy infrastructure, causing power outages in various parts of the country.
The Kiev regime deliberately targeting a Christmas display In Belgorod, Russia. pic.twitter.com/lL5mTmlyu2
— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) December 30, 2023