Russia claims Ukrainian strikes kill 14 and vows to retaliate

Russia has claimed Ukraine has bombarded on of its cities with missile srikes, killing 14 people including two children and leaving 108 injured.

The Kremllin claims the strikes on Belgorod today (30 January) were “indiscriminate” and vowed to retaliate.

Today’s attack follows a missile barrage on Ukraine on Friday which killed 39 people, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims.

The strikes on Ukraine were one of the largest missile barrages since Russia invaded the country in February last year.

The Russian ministry of defence issued a stern warning to Ukraine after the strikes, saying: “The Kyiv regime, which committed this crime, is trying to distract attention from defeats at the front, and is also wanting to provoke us. This crime will not go unpunished.”

The governor of Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that today’s attack on the region is the worst since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He wrote on Telegram: “Today, shelling by the armed forces of Ukraine has had the most severe consequences of the last two years.

“I sincerely offer my deepest condolences to all the families of the victims I understand that there are no words that can ease this grief. I want to say that we are all by your side and that the enemy will not escape retribution.”

Mr Gladkov claims more than 100 vehicles and 22 residential buildings were damaged or destroyed.

He also said a large number of shops, commercial properties and shopping centres were damaged and all public events were cancelled in all municipalities bordering Ukraine.

Images posted on social media by Russia’s Emergencies Ministry showed at least three burned out cars, and a commercial building with some broken windows.

A source close to the Russian Investigative Committee claims missiles fired from rocket launcher in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region hit a shopping centre and residential buildings in Belgorod, Russian newspaper Kommersant reports.

They also claim an ice rink in the Belgorod’s Central Cathedral was hit by missiles.

Ukranian authorities have not commented on the strikes but Ukrainian website RBC-Ukraine claims Ukrainian forces directed fire at military targets in response to Russian bombardments the previous day.

A Ukrainian security service source said the strikes were as a result destruction of civilian infrastructure on “unprofessional actions by Russian air defence, as well as deliberate and planned provocations,” Ukrainian news website Ukrainska Pravda reports.

Within hours of the attack on Belgorod, Ukrainian authorities said 14 people had been wounded in Russian strikes that hit a medical institution, apartment buildings and shops in Kharkiv Ukraine’s second city.

The head of Kharkiv’s regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, says at least 19 people, including a foreign national, were injured after Russia launched six rocket attacks on the city.

In a post on Telegram Mr Sinegubov said 10 of those injured have been hospitalised and two children are among those hurt.

He added that Kharkiv Palace Hotel, a residential building in the city’s centre was also hit.

Russian state-run news agency RIA quoted the Kremlin as saying President Vladimir Putin had sent a team of health and emergency workers to Belgorod.

Ukrainian officials claim 159 were wounded after Russia launched 158 missiles and drones at cities and towns across Ukraine.

Russia said its anti-aircraft units had destroyed 13 Ukrainian rockets over the Belgorod region on Friday, as well as 32 drones overnight over the nearby Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk regions and the Moscow region.

Additional reporting by Reuters.