Moscow said on Sunday it had attacked “military” targets in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. On the contrary, local authorities assured that these were civilian buildings, in retaliation for the unprecedented attack that killed 24 people in Belgorod, Russia, the day before.
• Also read: Russia promises response after 21 deaths in attack in Belgorod
• Also read: A Ukrainian attack in Russia reportedly leaves at least 21 dead and 111 injured
• Also read: Ukraine says it shot down ten drones sent by Russia
Russia assured on Saturday that it would not allow the rocket and rocket attack on the city, some thirty kilometers from the Ukrainian border, to go “unpunished”.
Moscow claims that Kiev is responsible, but Ukraine has so far remained silent.
Those bombings killed 24 people and injured 108 others, according to a new report from the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov.
He later said that another Ukrainian bombing had killed an elderly man and injured a woman in the village of Krasnoye, which almost borders Ukraine.
If Kiev regularly carries out attacks on Russian territory, particularly with drones, the attack in Belgorod is the deadliest for civilians in Russia since the conflict began in February 2022.
“In response to this terrorist attack, Russian forces attacked decision-making centers and military facilities in Kharkiv,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.
AFP
The governor of the attacked Ukrainian region, Oleg Sinegoubov, nevertheless assured that on Saturday evening rockets hit a hotel, residential buildings, clinics and hospitals and 28 people were injured.
Among them were two teenagers and a Briton who, according to the Ukrainian authorities, was a security advisor to a team of German journalists.
Russia admitted to targeting a “former hotel complex”, the Kharkiv Palace, but assured that members of the Ukrainian intelligence service and armed forces as well as “foreign mercenaries” were “involved” in the attack on Belgorod.
Ukrainian military intelligence described the allegations as a “twisted deception” that none of its employees were injured.
Moscow still denies attacking civilian targets in Ukraine.
AFP
The Ukrainian Air Force, for its part, claimed that six Russian guided missiles had attacked Kharkiv.
It also said it had shot down 21 of the 49 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched during the night into its territory, particularly the south and east.
The past few days have been marked by an escalation of violence between Russia and Ukraine.
On Friday, Ukraine was devastated by a rocket attack that he said was the worst since the conflict began, barring its early days.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday afternoon that 39 people had died nationwide, but more deaths have since been announced.
AFP
Dnipropetrovsk Region Governor Serguiï Lyssak said on Sunday that one of the injured had died in hospital, bringing the death toll in his region to seven deaths.
In Kiev, the state rescue service said it had found 23 bodies in the rubble since Friday's attack.
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin assured that his country would “never give in” during his New Year's greetings broadcast on Russian television.
Last year, the Russian president gave a speech with a very warlike tone, flanked by soldiers in uniform. This time he announced that 2024 would be the year of the “family,” with the Kremlin in the background.
Although he did not explicitly mention Ukraine, he made several allusions to it, praised the soldiers, “heroes,” or stated that Russia “resolutely defended” its interests and security in 2023.
For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky must speak in the evening, an expected speech at the end of a year marked by the failure of Ukraine's summer counteroffensive and the almost complete freeze of the front line.
On both the Russian and Ukrainian sides, the celebrations on Sunday evening will take place under great tension, after the strikes of the last few days.
The governor of Russia's Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, urged residents to stay at home given the “turbulent situation.”
His counterpart in the Voronezh region, Alexandre Goussev, stated that he canceled the “festive programs” out of “solidarity” with the residents of Belgorod.