Ukrainian shelling kills 20 people in Belgorod after Russian airstrikes across Ukraine
Twenty people were killed and more than a hundred others were injured in heavy shelling from Ukraine in the Russian border town of Belgorod on Saturday.
Moscow: At least 18 people, including two children, were killed and more than 100 others were injured as a result of heavy Ukrainian shelling on Russia’s Belgorod on Saturday, as reported by CNN, citing Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. The horrific attack from Kiev came in response to Russia’s recent airstrike on Ukraine, which killed 31 people. Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), Dmitry Polyanskiy, stated on Saturday that his country has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the attack, according to CNN. “This crime will not go unpunished,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement after the heavy shelling.
“The regime in Kiev is trying to divert attention from the defeats on the front lines and provoke us to similar actions,” the statement said, according to CNN.
Saturday’s bombing follows Russia’s biggest airstrike on Ukraine since the start of the large-scale invasion, which was carried out on Thursday night and Friday and resulted in at least 40 deaths and more than 150 injuries.
For more than a year, Ukrainian troops have been attacking Russian areas close to the border almost every day. Although civilians have occasionally been killed, this would be one of the bloodiest incidents to date.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed of the attack. A team from the Ministry of Health and rescue workers from the Ministry of Health were sent to the city to help the affected people.
About 40 civilian facilities have also been damaged during the massive Ukrainian shelling in the city. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Saturday that security forces had destroyed 32 Ukrainian UAVs flying over Bryansk, Oryol, Mursk and Moscow.
Ukraine has not publicly responded to the incidents and has not claimed responsibility for the attacks on the Russian city, CNN reports.
(With ANI inputs)