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Russia has accused Ukrainian forces of launching a deadly attack on a border city just a day after Moscow mounted one of the largest aerial strikes on its neighbour since the start of the war.
Twelve adults and two children were killed in the mid-afternoon attack on the city of Belgorod, according to Russian authorities — who also said they had intercepted dozens of Ukrainian drones and missiles across several regions earlier on Saturday.
Belgorod is just 20km over the border from the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and is the capital of the Russian region of the same name. The Russian authorities said more than 100 people had been wounded in the attack and that President Vladimir Putin had been informed.
“This crime will not go unpunished,” the Russian defence ministry said.
It added that its forces had shot down 13 missiles and 32 drones over the Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk and Moscow regions on Friday night.
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region, said a nine-year-old child was killed and several people injured. Ukrainian officials did not comment on the alleged attack.
The Russian reports of a Ukrainian air assault came after the Kremlin launched a barrage on multiple cities in Ukraine.
Ukraine said Russia had launched 158 missiles and drones in an attack that claimed at least 39 lives, 16 of them in Kyiv, which is protected by multiple air defence systems.
Defence minister Rustem Umerov said Russian forces had spent months stockpiling missiles and drones for multiple raids aimed at overcoming its air defences.
“It is obvious that with such stockpiles of missiles . . . they can and will continue such attacks,” he warned on Facebook.
The US embassy in Kyiv warned American citizens in Ukraine of a heightened risk of missile and drone strikes over the new year holiday weekend.
During the Russian attack on Ukraine, a shopping centre was set on fire and a maternity hospital was damaged. Military facilities were also targeted. At least 130 people across the country were injured.
US President Joe Biden called Friday’s strikes “a stark reminder to the world that, after nearly two years of this devastating war, Putin’s objective remains unchanged”.
He said Ukraine had deployed air defence systems delivered by the US and its allies to help fend off the attack, but warned that unless Congress approved more US security aid that assistance to Kyiv would end.
The attacks come as Ukraine endures its toughest period of the conflict. A long-awaited counteroffensive ground to a halt this autumn after making only meagre territorial gains, with the land war now largely deadlocked.
Solidarity from Kyiv’s western allies appears to be faltering. A request from the Biden administration for $61bn in aid for Ukraine remains blocked in Congress. A €50bn EU support package for the coming four years was vetoed this month by Hungary, although the bloc is drawing up an alternative €20bn funding plan for 2024.
One bright spot for Kyiv has been its long-range missile and drone strikes against Russia’s Black Sea fleet, with another ship destroyed in Crimea this week.
Kyiv and western officials had expected Russia to step up aerial bombardments following its campaign last winter to destroy power and heating plants and other infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt the economy and destroy Ukrainian morale.
General Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of Ukraine’s armed forces, said that of the 158 missiles and drones launched by Russia, 87 cruise missiles and 27 attack drones were shot down by air defence forces. However, none of the 20 or so ballistic missiles appear to have been intercepted.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram: “Today, Russia struck with almost everything it has in its arsenal: Daggers, S-300, cruise missiles, UAVs. Strategic bombers launched Kh-101/Kh-505. About 110 missiles were fired, most of them were shot down. Unfortunately, as a result of the shelling, there are dead and wounded.”
Attacking with a large number of varied missiles has more chance of overwhelming Ukraine’s largely western-supplied air defence systems.
Friday morning’s strike was vast in scale. Russia launched cruise missiles from 18 Tu-95 “Bear” bombers, ballistic missiles from Tu-22 supersonic aircraft, Kinzhals from MiG-31 fighter jets and ground-launched air defence ballistic missiles, officials said.
Additional reporting by Raphael Minder, Christopher Miller and James Politi