31-12-2023 (MOSCOW) On Saturday, December 30, the Russian Emergencies Ministry reported that ten individuals, including a child, lost their lives in the heart of Belgorod, the provincial capital of Russia. The casualties occurred as a result of strikes launched by Ukraine, leaving 45 others injured. Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov of the Belgorod region urged residents to seek refuge in air raid shelters as the city’s sirens blared, following the attack on a residential area.
Throughout the year, the Belgorod region, which shares a border with northern Ukraine, has been subjected to relentless shelling and drone attacks, primarily attributed to Ukraine by local authorities. State-run RIA news agency images depicted multiple vehicles engulfed in flames, while other online visuals captured billowing black smoke emanating from the city.
Eyewitnesses in Belgorod reported witnessing air defense missiles ascending into the sky, subsequently followed by explosions and more resounding blasts. The Kommersant newspaper quoted an anonymous source affiliated with the Russian Investigative Committee, who revealed that missiles fired from a multiple rocket launcher in Ukraine’s Kharkov region had struck various locations, including a skating rink on the central Cathedral Square, a shopping center, residential buildings, and a car.
⚠️WW3 ALERT⚠️
Today, Ukraine launched a missile strike, with NATO weapons (Czech), onto civilian locations, in Belgorod city center, killing 14 civilians, 2 children, and injuring over 100.
Russia have called an emergency UN Security Council meeting, and Russian officials are… pic.twitter.com/0NMXTCkcuk
— Clandestine (@WarClandestine) December 30, 2023
No immediate official statement was provided by Kyiv, as the Ukrainian government seldom claims responsibility for attacks within its neighboring country. However, RBC-Ukraine, a Ukrainian news outlet, cited sources asserting that Ukrainian forces had targeted military sites in Belgorod in response to the Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities the previous day.
Russia, which embarked on a military intervention in Ukraine in February 2022, referring to it as a “special military operation,” launched its most substantial aerial assault of the conflict on Friday. Ukrainian officials disclosed that the strikes inflicted 31 civilian fatalities and left over 160 individuals injured, impacting cities and critical infrastructure across Ukraine.
Belgorod was shelled by the #Russian Federation’s air defense forces. According to preliminary data, they intended to launch S300 missiles at the territory of the Kharkiv region, but expired missiles began to fall on residential areas. pic.twitter.com/u81PNlZ0dM
— Roman Dutchak ???????? (@dutchakdev2) December 30, 2023
Alexander Bogomaz, the governor of the Bryansk region, which also shares a border with Ukraine, confirmed on Saturday that strikes on “civilian objects” in two villages had resulted in the death of a child, although the exact timing of the attacks was not specified.
On the preceding day, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced that its anti-aircraft units had successfully neutralized 13 Ukrainian rockets over the Belgorod region, while Governor Gladkov reported one fatality and four injuries caused by the earlier assault.
