Russia launched new attacks against Ukraine at dawn on Sunday, the day after the strike blamed on kyiv which left 22 dead in the Russian town of Belgorod and to which Moscow promised a response. Four Iranian-made “Shahed” drones targeted the city of Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, during the night, according to the spokesperson for the regional prosecutor, Dmytro Tchoubenko.
Information to remember:
- The day after the strike which left 22 dead in the Russian town of Belgorod, Moscow blames Kiev and says it targeted “military” targets in Ukraine
- The strike on Belgorod is the deadliest for civilians in Russia since the start of the conflict
- kyiv claims to have shot down 21 drones, out of the 49 launched by Russia on its territory during the night
- On Friday, Russian bombings left 40 dead, including 17 in kyiv. These are the most intense bombings in several months
“As a result of the night attack by Russian drones on Kharkiv, buildings in the city center were damaged. These are not military installations, but cafes, residential buildings and offices,” he said. wrote the city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, on Telegram, without mentioning any victims. “On New Year’s Eve, the Russians want to intimidate our city, but we are not afraid,” he added.
This attack comes the day after the strike attributed to the Ukrainian army which, according to the local governor, left 22 dead and 109 injured on Saturday in Belgorod, a Russian town located approximately 80 km north of Kharkiv and 30 km from the border. with Ukraine. This is the deadliest attack on civilians in Russia since the start of the conflict in February 2022, and the Russian Defense Ministry has assured that it will not go “unpunished”. Ukraine regularly carries out strikes in Russia, particularly in the regions closest to its territory, but their toll is generally much lower.
Moscow says it targeted “military” targets in Ukraine in retaliation for Belgorod strike
Moscow declared on Sunday that it had struck “military” targets in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, local authorities assuring on the contrary that they were civilian buildings, in retaliation for the unprecedented attack which left 24 dead the day before in Belgorod, Russia.
On Saturday, Russia assured that it would not let the missile and rocket attack against this town located around thirty kilometers from the Ukrainian border go “unpunished”. Moscow claims that kyiv is responsible, but Ukraine has so far remained silent.
“In response to this terrorist act, the Russian armed forces struck decision-making centers and military installations,” the ministry said on Telegram, kyiv having on the contrary assured that residential buildings, a hotel and even cafes had been hit . Since the start of the conflict, Russia has always denied targeting civilian targets.
Ukraine says it shot down 21 of 49 drones launched towards its territory overnight
Ukraine said on Sunday it had shot down 21 of 49 drones launched towards its territory overnight, adding that six guided missiles had also targeted the northeastern city of Kharkiv, after an unprecedented strike on the Russian town of Belgorod the day before.
The Air Force said it had registered 49 Iranian-made Shahed drones, particularly targeting the regions of Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia, of which 21 were “destroyed”. It did not say whether the six missiles had hit their target.
“Act of terrorism”
At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, Moscow accused kyiv of committing “a deliberate act of terrorism” and “using cluster munitions.” It is “a blind and deliberate attack against a civilian target,” said the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vassili Nebenzia, accusing kyiv of having targeted a sports center, an ice rink and a university.
Ukraine’s allies have countered that responsibility for the war lies with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “There are hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers in Ukraine. There is not a single Ukrainian soldier in Russia,” said British representative Thomas Phipps. “If Russia wants to blame anyone for Russian deaths in this war, it should start with President Putin,” he added.
The Belgorod attack itself came the day after particularly intense bombings in Ukraine, which killed 40 people, including 17 in the capital kyiv, according to authorities.
During the day on Saturday, new Russian strikes targeted Ukrainian territory, killing three people in the regions of Kherson, Zaporizhia and Cherniguiv, according to various local authorities. In Kharkiv, 26 people were injured on Saturday.
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky are both due to deliver expected New Year’s speeches, after a year 2023 marked by the failure of Ukraine’s summer counter-offensive and the near-total freeze of the line head on.
This news is all the more worrying from kyiv as Western aid is beginning to run out of steam, in Europe as well as in the United States, raising the risk of a drying up of the flow of munitions and funds.
On Saturday, Volodymyr Zelensky launched a new appeal to his allies, assuring that arming Ukraine is “a way to protect lives”. “Each manifestation of Russian terror proves that we cannot wait to provide assistance to those who are fighting,” he argued.