Russia has launched new drone attacks on Ukraine after promising retaliation for the bombing of Belgorod.
Russia launched a new drone attack on Ukraine on Saturday evening, after promising strikes on the Russian border town of Belgorod earlier in the day “would not go unpunished.”
The Ukrainian Air Force announced on Sunday that it had shot down 21 of the 49 drones launched by Russian forces overnight.
28 people were injured in an attack on the eastern city of Kharkiv, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Sunday. A hotel, apartment buildings, a kindergarten, shops and administrative buildings were damaged, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
In the Kyiv region surrounding the capital, a Russian drone attack caused a fire in critical infrastructure, local officials said, without specifying which building it was.
The Russian attacks came after a bombing in the center of the Russian border town of Belgorod on Saturday. 24 people were killed, including three children.
Another 108 people were injured in the strike, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Sunday, making it one of the deadliest attacks on Russian soil since Moscow began its invasion of Ukraine a year ago. at 22 months.
Russian authorities accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which came the day after an 18-hour Russian aerial bombardment across Ukraine killed at least 41 civilians.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it identified the munitions used in the attack as Czech-made Vampire rockets and Olkha missiles equipped with cluster warheads. He provided no additional information and The Associated Press was unable to verify his claims.
“This crime will not go unpunished”said the ministry in a statement published on social networks.
At an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council requested by Russia on Saturday evening, envoy Vasily Nebenzya accused Kyiv of carrying out a “terrorist attack”.