MOSCOW: Crimea and two Russian regions neighbouring Ukraine saw another wave of attacks on Wednesday, local officials said, a day after Kyiv was hit by massive bombardment and amid intensifying aerial attacks on both sides.
“The situation in Belgorod continues to be tense. There were two attacks in the morning,” the governor of the Belgorod region Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Russian air defence said it destroyed six missiles over the Belgorod region, which has been repeatedly struck throughout the conflict.
One person was killed and eleven injured the day before, Gladkov said.
An aerial attack damaged infrastructures and caused power cuts in the Kursk region, to the north of Belgorod, its governor Roman Starovoyt said on Telegram.
And another missile was downed near Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014, the city’s governor said, with no reported damage.
Russian regions bordering Ukraine have seen regular strikes since the beginning of the offensive.
But Belgorod has been particularly hit in the wake of massive Russian strikes on Ukraine last week.
On Friday, a massive bombardment across Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, killed over 30 people.
Meanwhile, deadly strikes hit residential buildings in UKraine as an escalation of aerial attacks also wounded dozens and prompted Kyiv to urge speedier Western weapons shipments.
The bombardment of mainly Kyiv and northeastern Kharkiv came less than 24 hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to step up strikes following an unprecedented Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod.
In total, five people were killed and 130 wounded, authorities said.
“The enemy has planned their trajectories to cause as much damage as possible. This is an utterly premeditated terror,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
Since December 29, Russia has launched nearly 300 missiles and more than 200 drones against Ukraine, he said.
Moscow claimed to have struck only military installations, but Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said Russia was deliberately hitting critical infrastructure and residential neighbourhoods.
Kyiv urged Western allies to respond to the bombardment by speeding up the delivery of air defence equipment, combat drones and long-range missiles at a time when allied backing has wavered.
Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said late on Tuesday he had discussed the attacks with White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
“We agreed on the importance of strengthening Ukrainian air defence,” he said.
Kyiv said Moscow fired 99 missiles on Tuesday but 72 were downed, while Russia said it had shot down nine Ukrainian missiles over the Belgorod region. — AFP
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