Vehicles burned during a raid in the Belgorod region, Russia on December 30, 2023 (Photo: Reuters).
"Our military will continue to do everything possible to first reduce the threat and then eliminate it completely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on January 9, accusing Ukrainian armed forces of firing cluster munitions into the center of the Russian city of Belgorod.
"The Kiev authorities brazenly used cluster munitions to launch attacks on the city center, where there are no military facilities," Peskov added.
The Kremlin spokesman accused the attacks on Russian territory and Russian civilian facilities of being carried out with Western-made weapons.
"I would like to point out that attacks are being carried out continuously on our territory and civilian facilities, in the center of Belgorod before New Year's Eve, there was continuous shelling with shells and missiles produced by Germany, France, Italy, the United States and other countries. Let's not forget that," Peskov told reporters when asked to comment on US claims that Russia was allegedly using weapons made by North Korea to attack Ukraine.
On the same day, Rodion Miroshnik, a special envoy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Ukraine was trying to compensate for its lackluster progress on the battlefield by launching attacks in the Belgorod region on the Russian border.
The city of Belgorod, like other areas in southwestern Russia, has come under constant artillery, rocket and drone attacks by Ukrainian forces amid escalating conflict.
On December 30, 2023, Russia accused Ukrainian armed forces of firing cluster munitions and Czech-made rockets into central areas of Belgorod, a city of 340,000 people located about 40km from the Russia-Ukraine border.
According to the latest data, the attack killed 25 people, including 5 children, and injured more than 100. In addition, dozens of residential buildings and civilian facilities were also damaged.
On December 31, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced a retaliatory attack on military targets in Ukraine, especially the city of Kharkov, causing heavy losses to Ukraine.
On the night of January 1 and the morning of January 2, the Russian Defense Ministry estimated that its air defense forces shot down a total of 32 Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk and Moscow regions.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Ukrainian army also shelled the Belgorod region on the evening of January 2, and said all rockets were intercepted.
On January 7, the Ukrainian General Intelligence Service (GUR) announced that Kiev had destroyed two of Moscow's Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems in the Belgorod region. Ukraine also sought to destroy other short-range Russian air defense systems such as the Tor system, as well as longer-range defense systems such as the S-300 and S-400.
President Vladimir Putin has said Russia will step up attacks on military targets in Ukraine following Kiev's raids on the border city of Belgorod.
President Putin said Ukraine's offensive efforts were aimed at destabilizing Russia and threatening its people.
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