Kharkiv
\nRussia launched fresh strikes against Ukraine at dawn on Sunday, a day after vowing to retaliate for what it called a \u201cterrorist attack\u201d on the city of Belgorod.
\nSeveral Iranian-made \u201cShahed\u201d drones targeted Ukraine\u2019s northeastern city of Kharkiv overnight, according to local authorities, as the two sides have taken turns accusing each other of pummelling civilian areas of their shared frontier over the weekend.
\n\u201cAs a result of the night attack of Russian drones on Kharkiv, buildings in the city centre were damaged. These are not military facilities, but cafes, residential buildings and offices,\u201d the city\u2019s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, wrote on Telegram, without mentioning casualties. \u201cOn the eve of the New Year, Russians want to intimidate our city, but we are not scared.\u201d
\nThe strike follows the deadliest attack on civilians in Russia since the start of the conflict in February 2022.
\nAt least 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded on Saturday in Belgorod, a Russian city just 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border that has been repeatedly struck by what Moscow says is indiscriminate shelling.
\nMoscow said Saturday\u2019s attack included the use of controversial cluster munitions, and told an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council that Kyiv had targeted a sports centre, an ice rink and a university.
\nRussian envoy Vasily Nebenzya called it a \u201cdeliberate, indiscriminate attack against a civilian target\u201d.
\nUkraine\u2019s allies countered that responsibility ultimately lay with Russian President Vladimir Putin for invading the neighbouring country two years ago.
\n\u201cIf Russia wants someone to blame for the deaths of Russians in this war, it should start with President Putin,\u201d said British envoy to the UN Thomas Phipps.
\nBoth Putin and Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelensky are due to give New Year\u2019s Eve speeches on Sunday, as the conflict between their countries approaches its second anniversary in February.
\nIn Belgorod, footage posted online showed a street strewn with debris and smoke billowing from burned-out cars in the city\u2019s centre. AFP was not able to immediately verify the circumstances of the strike.
\nAuthorities in Belgorod said the 22 dead included at least three children, with 109 people wounded.
\nThe attack came a day after Ukraine said a barrage of Russian missile strikes on several cities, including the capital, had killed at least 40 people.
\nSchools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in Friday\u2019s barrage, one of the most violent attacks since the start of the war.
\nUkraine was still sifting through the rubble on Saturday when fresh strikes hit the regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Chernigiv, according to local authorities.
\nThree more people were killed by Russian strikes across Ukraine on Saturday, the officials said.
\nThe prosecutor\u2019s office said Russian rocket attacks on Kharkiv on Saturday evening had wounded 26 people after hitting a range of buildings, including a hotel, a kindergarten, shops and restaurants.
\nThe casualties included a British national, initially identified as a journalist, who was in fact a security adviser to a German media team, the statement added.
\nJanuary 1 will be declared a day of mourning in the capital Kyiv, where at least 17 people were killed, city officials said.
\nRussia\u2019s army said it had \u201ccarried out 50 group strikes and one massive strike\u201d on military facilities in Ukraine over the past week, adding that \u201call targets were hit\u201d.
\nThe United Nations condemned the attacks and said they must stop \u201cimmediately\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kharkiv Russia launched fresh strikes against Ukraine at dawn on Sunday, a day after vowing to retaliate for what it called a \u201cterrorist attack\u201d on the city of Belgorod. Several Iranian-made \u201cShahed\u201d drones targeted Ukraine\u2019s northeastern city of Kharkiv overnight, according to local authorities, as the two sides have taken turns accusing each other of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-378379","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n