Shelling in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod killed 10 people and injured 45 more on Saturday, emergency services said. Russian officials accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which took place the day after an 18-hour aerial Russian barrage across Ukraine killed at least 39 civilians.
Quick Read
- Shelling in Belgorod: The Russian city of Belgorod suffered shelling, killing 10 people and injuring 45. Russian officials blame Kyiv for the attack.
- Follow-up to Ukrainian Barrage: The Belgorod incident occurred after an extensive Russian aerial assault on Ukraine, which resulted in at least 39 civilian deaths.
- Social Media Footage: Images on social media depicted significant damage in Belgorod, including burning cars and damaged buildings near a public ice rink.
- Russian Claims of Ukrainian Drones: Russia claims to have shot down 32 Ukrainian drones over various regions and reported additional cross-border shelling casualties.
- Regular Attacks in Western Russia: Western Russian cities have faced drone attacks since May, with Russia accusing Ukraine, though Ukraine does not confirm these attacks.
- Russian Drone Strikes in Ukraine: Russia continued drone strikes in Ukraine, with Ukrainian forces reporting the downing of 10 Shahed drones.
- Massive Russian Missile Strikes: Russia launched its largest aerial barrage of the war against Ukraine, with extensive damage and civilian casualties.
- Warnings of Russian Strike Buildup: Western analysts had warned of Russia’s potential buildup of missile stockpiles for winter strikes.
- Stalled Frontline Progress: The conflict’s front line is largely stagnant due to winter conditions, despite Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive.
- Concerns for Neighboring Countries: Neighboring countries, including Poland, are alarmed by the conflict’s escalation, with Poland reporting a possible Russian missile entering its airspace.
- Russian Response to Polish Claim: Russia’s official stance is to withhold comments on the alleged airspace violation until Poland provides concrete evidence.
The Associated Press has the story:
10 killed by shelling on Russia’s Belgorod following Moscow’s aerial assault against Ukraine
Newslooks- (AP)
Shelling in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod killed 10 people and injured 45 more on Saturday, emergency services said. Russian officials accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which took place the day after an 18-hour aerial Russian barrage across Ukraine killed at least 39 civilians.
Images of Belgorod on social media showed cars set alight and plumes of black smoke rising among damaged buildings as air raid sirens sounded. One strike hit close to a public ice rink in the very heart of the city.
Earlier on Saturday, Moscow officials had reported shooting down 32 Ukrainian drones over the country’s Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol, and Kursk regions.
They also reported that cross-border shelling had killed two other people in Russia. A man died and four other people were injured when a missile struck a private home in the Belgorod region late Friday evening and a 9-year-old was killed in a separate incident in the Bryansk region.
Cities across western Russia have come under regular attack from drones since May, with Russian officials blaming Kyiv. Ukrainian officials never acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory or the Crimean peninsula. However, larger aerial strikes against Russia have previously followed heavy assaults on Ukrainian cities.
Russian drone strikes against Ukraine continued Saturday, with the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reporting that 10 Iranian-made Shahed drones had been shot down across the Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, and Mykolaiv regions.
On Friday, Moscow’s forces launched 122 missiles and dozens of drones across Ukraine, an onslaught described by one air force official as the biggest aerial barrage of the war.
As well as the 39 deaths, at least 160 people were wounded and an unknown number were buried under rubble in the assault, which damaged a maternity hospital, apartment blocks, and schools.
Western officials and analysts recently warned that Russia limited its cruise missile strikes for months in an apparent effort to build up stockpiles for massive strikes during the winter, hoping to break the Ukrainians’ spirit.
Fighting along the front line is largely bogged down by winter weather after Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive failed to make a significant breakthrough along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) line of contact.
Russia’s ongoing aerial attacks have also sparked concern for Ukraine’s neighbors.
Poland’s defense forces said Friday that an unknown object had entered the country’s airspace before vanishing off radars, and that all indications pointed to it being a Russian missile.
Speaking to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti Saturday, Russia’s Charge d’Affaires in Poland, Andrei Ordash, said that Moscow would not comment on the event until Warsaw had given the Kremlin evidence of an airspace violation.
“We will not give any explanations until we are presented with concrete evidence because these accusations are unsubstantiated,” he said.
