Kharkiv strikes were retaliation for Ukraine’s Belgorod attack, Russia says By Reuters

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© Reuters. A view exhibits destroyed vehicles following what Russian authorities say was a Ukrainian army strike in Belgorod, Russia December 30, 2023. REUTERS/Stringer

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(Reuters) -Russia on Sunday mentioned it attacked army services within the Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv in a single day, together with a lodge housing army commanders and “overseas mercenaries”, in response to Ukraine’s strikes on Belgorod the day gone by.

Kharkiv officers had mentioned that a minimum of six missiles hit Ukraine’s second metropolis, injuring a minimum of 28 individuals and damaging residential buildings, resorts and medical services, adopted by waves of drone assaults on housing blocks.

Russia’s assertion mentioned its assault hit the previous Kharkiv Palace lodge and the headquarters of the Ukrainian Safety Service for the Kharkiv area.

It mentioned army and intelligence officers concerned in Ukraine’s assault on Belgorod had been amongst these killed, together with “overseas mercenaries and militants” getting ready to hold out cross-border raids.

Ukraine army intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov advised native media that no army objects had been focused in Russia’s assault on Kharkiv and that nobody from his company was harmed.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod area adjoining northern Ukraine, mentioned the dying toll from Saturday’s Ukrainian rocket assault on the regional capital had risen to 24.

In a posting on Telegram he mentioned there have been additionally 108 wounded and that 37 condo buildings had been broken.

There was no official remark from Kyiv within the hours after the assault on Belgorod and Reuters was unable to independently confirm the Russian stories.

Like different Russian border zones, Belgorod has suffered shelling and drone assaults all yr, which authorities have blamed on Ukraine, although none have beforehand been on such a scale.

Each side deny concentrating on civilians in a battle that Russia launched in opposition to its neighbour in February 2022. The United Nations says that greater than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and practically 60 individuals inside Russia.

Ukrainian information outlet RBC-Ukraine on Saturday quoted unidentified sources as saying that Ukrainian forces had directed hearth at army targets in Belgorod in response to the large Russian bombardment of cities and infrastructure throughout Ukraine the day gone by.

Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Ukraine had fired its missiles from the Kharkiv area throughout the border.