Telegram channel of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia via AP
Firefighters extinguish burning cars after shelling in Belgorod on Saturday.
CNN –
At least 14 people, including two children, were killed in a Ukrainian shelling of the Russian city of Belgorod on Saturday, according to the Russian Emergencies Ministry.
Saturday's deaths were the result of a “massive” attack on downtown Belgorod, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing Russia's Emergencies Ministry.
Saturday's shelling came after Russia launched the largest airstrike on Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion on Thursday night, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 150.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian regions near the border have continued almost daily for over a year and have sometimes resulted in civilian casualties. However, if confirmed, it will be one of the deadliest incidents.
The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed of the attack in Belgorod and ordered a team from the Health Ministry and rescuers from the Emergencies Ministry to be sent to the city to help those affected.
The shelling damaged around 40 civilian facilities in the city, causing ten fires that have since been extinguished.
Russian authorities said Belgorod was also shelled on Friday evening, killing one civilian, the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said. Four other people, including a child, were injured, he added.
On Saturday, a child also died as a result of Ukrainian shelling in the Russian region of Bryansk, said the region's governor, Aleksandr Bogomaz.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday it had destroyed 32 Ukrainian UAVs flying over Russia's Bryansk, Oryol, Mursk and Moscow regions, according to a Defense Ministry Telegram post on Saturday.
Ukraine has not publicly commented on the incidents and rarely takes responsibility for attacks on its neighboring country
Meanwhile, casualties from Russia's attacks on Ukraine, which saw an unprecedented number of drones and missiles fired at targets across the country, continued to rise.
Buildings hit by Friday's bombing included schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and apartment blocks, prompting widespread international condemnation.
The number of victims in the capital Kiev has risen to at least 16 after the bodies of more civilians were recovered from the rubble of a warehouse, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said on Saturday. All deaths in Kiev occurred in the warehouse.
“The attack on the capital on December 29 was the largest in terms of civilian casualties since the full-scale invasion began,” he said.
“The rescuers are on duty and will continue clearing the rubble until tomorrow,” said Klitschko. “January 1 will be declared a day of mourning in Kiev.”
During the wave of attacks, Polish military authorities claimed that an “unidentified flying object” briefly entered their airspace.
Russia said it would not make a statement “until concrete evidence is provided.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrote on X that NATO continues to monitor the incident closely.
CNN's Victoria Butenko, Svitlana Vlasova and Christian Edwards contributed to this report.