(Reuters) – The death toll from what Moscow said was an “indiscriminate” Ukrainian air attack on the city of Belgorod just north of Ukraine’s border has risen to 22, a Russian official said on Sunday.
“Unfortunately, to our great grief, the number of those who have died in result of yesterday’s strike at Belgorod has increased,” said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region of which Belgorod city is the administrative centre.
The Belgorod region, which adjoins northern Ukraine, has like other Russian border zones suffered shelling and drone attacks all year that authorities have blamed on Ukraine, although none have previously been on such a scale.
Three children were among those killed and 109 people have been wounded, Gladkov said in his statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia launched against its neighbour in February 2022. According to the United Nations, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and nearly 60 people inside Russia.
The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that Ukraine hit Belgorod with two missiles and several rockets, adding that most of the weapons were shot down, but that some debris fell on the city.
Gladkov said on Sunday that the attack damaged 30 apartment buildings, as well as several houses and cars.
There has been no official comment from Kyiv. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the Russian reports.
The Ukrainian news outlet RBC-Ukraine quoted unidentified sources as saying Ukrainian forces had directed fire at military targets in Belgorod in response to the massive Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities the previous day.
Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Ukraine fired its air weapons from the Kharkiv region, just across the border.
Within hours of the attack on Belgorod, Russia launched several waves of air attacks on Kharkiv, injuring at least 21 people and damaging residential buildings, Ukraine’s officials said.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Kim Coghill)
