attack on the border city of “Belgorod” in Russia; At least 122 were killed and wounded
09 January 1402
The Ministry of Emergencies of Russia announced that the shelling of the city of “Belgorod” on the border between this country and Ukraine has killed 14 people, including two children, and wounded 108 others.
According to the Associated Press, this attack was carried out one day after the 18-hour aerial bombardment of Ukrainian cities by Russia, and the Russian authorities have pointed the finger of blame at that country.
Images posted on social media from Belgorod show burning cars and black smoke rising from damaged buildings, and sirens can be heard in the videos. One of the attacks was carried out near a public ice rink in the heart of Belgorod.
Several cars burned in the city of Belgorod, Russia Several cars burned in the city of Belgorod, Russia
According to the Associated Press, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the ammunition used in this attack were missiles made in the Czech Republic and “Ulkha” cluster ammunition.
The ministry did not provide more information in this regard, and the Associated Press was unable to verify Russia’s claim in this regard.
The Ministry of Defense of Russia threatened: “This crime will not go unpunished.”
The Kremlin also announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the situation and that Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko had been ordered to visit Belgorod with a delegation of medical personnel and aid workers.
Earlier on Saturday, Russian authorities reported the downing of 32 Ukrainian drones over the skies of Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol, and Kursk.
The cities of western Russia have faced constant drone attacks over the past months, and the authorities of this country consider Ukraine to be the cause of these attacks.
The Ukrainian authorities have never claimed responsibility for the attacks inside the Russian territory and the Crimean peninsula. However, the airstrikes against Russia come after heavy attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian cities continued on Saturday, and the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced the downing of 10 Iranian-made “witness” drones in Kherson, Khmelnytskyi and Mykolaiv regions.
Ukrainian authorities announced on Saturday that at least 31 civilians were killed and more than 160 were injured following Russian airstrikes on various regions of the country on Friday, January 8.
Kiev also says the attacks, unprecedented since Moscow began its all-out invasion of Ukraine, targeted cities and infrastructure, including in the energy sector, across the country.
Western officials and analysts have recently warned that Russia has been limiting attacks using these missiles for months in order to increase its stockpile of cruise missiles for massive winter attacks and demoralize Ukrainians.
After the counterattack of the Ukrainians did not lead to significant progress along the almost 1,000-kilometer contact line of the two countries, the battles along the front line were mainly affected by the winter weather conditions.
Russia’s continuous air attacks on Ukraine have also increased the concerns of this country’s neighbors.
According to the CNN news channel, Poland, a member of NATO, said that it seems that a Russian missile flew about 40 kilometers in the country’s airspace and returned to Ukraine after three minutes.
The chargé d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Poland responded to the incident and said that the Kremlin will not comment on the matter until Warsaw provides Moscow with evidence of its air rights violations.
Idea media news base,
quoted by VOA
