Ukraine Mounts Massive Series Of Attacks On Russian City, Killing At Least 14

Russia’s Belgorod region, which lies just north of Kharkiv in Ukraine, was rocked by Ukrainian drone and missile fire which killed at least 14 people, with over 100 injured, according to revised updates. “According to updated information, 12 adults and two children were killed in Belgorod. Another 108 people, including 15 children, were injured,” Russia’s defense ministry said.

The death toll was so high due to the strikes on a residential area, the region’s governor Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov indicated. While this Russian border region has throughout the war come under repeat cross-border attack, it has been relatively quiet of late, with only smaller sporadic mortar or drone attacks. In one instance a centrally located Christmas attraction, said to be (according to unverified reports) a skating rink with many children, came under fire…

Explosions in #Belgorod, Russia. Two children killed. pic.twitter.com/keeXQumfNY

— Russian Market (@runews) December 30, 2023

Russia’s defense ministry described a broader attack on Russian territory Saturday during which time the military intercepted and destroyed dozens of inbound missiles and drones.

Ukrainian media sources said that the armed forces launched some 70 drones on Russia in the series of deadly attacks, however, Kiev officials claim they only targeted military sites, including a direct hit on a electronic factory in Bryansk region where missile system components are made.

This major assault appears ‘retaliation’ by Ukraine for the major nationwide aerial strikes on Ukrainian cities that took place the day prior, where the rising death toll is at 39 Ukrainians killed.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces had cited that in the Friday Russian assault, up to 158 missiles and drones were launched, describing that this was a “record number” and the “most massive missile attack” of the conflict, excluding the very opening few days of the invasion.

The Saturday attacks on Russia were rare for their size and scope, and likely Russian forces are preparing another wave of attacks on Ukraine. President Putin was reportedly briefed on the wide-ranging assault, detailed further as follows:

An initial statement from the Russian defence ministry on Saturday said 13 missiles were destroyed over the wider region overnight. Later, it said 32 drones had been shot down in the Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk and Moscow regions.

The governor of Bryansk region meanwhile said two villages were targeted and a child, born in 2014, had been killed. He said the attacks had damaged 55 homes, two private businesses, a football ground, a leisure centre and a pre-school.

The below photo of Belgorod city shows that the attacks were on a large-scale not seen in many months…

“This offence will not go unpunished,” the Russian MoD said further. And spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing, “President Vladimir Putin has been informed about the Ukrainian armed forces’ strike on residential neighborhoods in Belgorod.”

Russian state media detailed that the shelling “targeted the central city district, which hosts regional government buildings, as well as the ‘Mayak’ city mall – a popular gathering place for locals that traditionally holds festive events on New Year’s Eve. Some reports also claimed that a local ice-skating rink was hit in the strike.”

The center of Belgorod right after the strike pic.twitter.com/NCPlMaJVj8

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 30, 2023

But Ukraine’s military asserted it avoided civilian areas, which isn’t born out by the video evidence. “Unlike Russian terrorist attacks on the territory of Ukraine, the Security and Defense Forces have exclusively hit enemy military targets,” a military source told Ukrainian media.

Belgorod lies merely 20 miles from the Ukraine border, on the other side of which has witnessed two years of heavy fighting. Air raid sirens and the occasional inbound drone have become ‘normal’ for Russian residents in the region, however, the scale of Saturday’s attack was unprecedented in intensity and the rate at which the missiles and drones hit central areas.