An attack that Moscow accused the Ukrainian army of carrying out against Belgorod left 14 dead and 108 injured on Saturday in this Russian city near the border with Ukraine, according to a new report from the authorities.
“According to the latest information, 12 adults and two children died in Belgorod. In addition, 108 people, including 15 children, were injured,” indicated the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations on Telegram, reports Afp.
The ministry had previously reported a toll of ten dead and 45 injured.
Ukraine, which has not yet reacted to the Russian accusations, regularly carries out attacks in Russia, especially in the regions closest to its territory, but the number of victims is usually lower.
Following the attacks, Russia has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council, according to the state news agency RIA quoting Foreign Affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova Zakharova added that those responsible for the attack are both Kiev, the US, the Kingdom United Kingdom and European countries that “continue to supply weapons to Ukraine.”
The governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, reported that enemy artillery had fired on the city center, where some 330,000 people live.
He recommended that the city’s population take shelter in the shelters and underground facilities set up for this purpose.
Among the buildings affected are the regional government headquarters and university buildings, as well as businesses and homes, according to the official RIA Nóvosti agency.
By order of the president, Vladimir Putin, a brigade from the Ministry of Health headed by the head of the portfolio traveled to the region.
Belgorod, which shares a 552-kilometer border with Ukraine, has been the Russian region hardest hit by border incidents since the military conflict began in February 2022.
The Ukrainian Army would have thus responded to the wave of massive bombings carried out on Friday by Russian troops against the Ukrainian capital and the main cities of the country, the largest of the entire war, since Moscow used some 160 missiles and drones.
The UN Security Council met urgently this Friday to discuss these attacks, which have left at least 39 dead and 160 injured, as reported today by the president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
The UN Secretary General strongly condemned the attack, criticism joined by US President Joe Biden. “He seeks to annihilate Ukraine and subjugate its people. He must be stopped,” he said.
The Russian bombings caused damage to residential areas in Ukraine, a maternity hospital, schools, daycare centers, parks, a metro station, a shopping center and energy infrastructure, causing power outages in various parts of the country.