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30 December 2023 Belgorod shelling

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30 December 2023 Belgorod shelling
Part of attacks in Russia during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
LocationBelgorod, Belgorod Oblast, Russia
Date30 December 2023 (UTC+3)
Attack type
Airstrikes
Deaths25[a]
Injured108[b]
Perpetrators Armed Forces of Ukraine (claimed by Russia)

On 30 December 2023, during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, explosions occurred in the city of Belgorod, Russia, killing at least 25 people and wounding over 100. Russian sources alleged the explosions were shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.[3][4][5] Ukraine attributed the explosions to the work of Russian air defence.

Russia also reported that it had shot down drones in other Russian cities the same day.[6] The attack occurred a day after Russia launched airstrikes at multiple cities in Ukraine, killing 57 and wounding 160. The Russian Defense Ministry called the strikes a "terrorist attack" that would "not go unpunished",[7] launching 49 drones at Ukrainian cites the following days in retaliation.[8]

It is reportedly the single largest death toll in a Russian city since the beginning of the war on 24 February 2022.[9][10]

Background

The explosions took place amid Russian mass missile and drone attacks against Ukraine, including Russia's largest-ever wave of attacks against Ukraine and an emergency meeting at the UN Security Council[11] on 29 December 2023, further strikes on Kharkiv on 30 December, and another wave of Russian strikes and the Russian accidental bombing of a village in Voronezh Oblast[12] on 2 January 2024.

The same day, Russian officials claimed that 32 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol, and Kursk Oblasts. They also claimed that two people, including a nine-year old child, were killed and four others were injured in separate instances of shelling in Bryansk and Belgorod Oblasts.[4]

Attacks on Belgorod

The explosions in Belgorod, only about 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, took place in daylight hours. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Czech-made unguided Vampire rockets (range 20.5 km) and guided Vilkha missiles (range 130 km) fitted with cluster-munition warheads were used[4] and were believed to have originated from a multiple rocket launcher in Kharkiv Oblast.[13] According to the BBC it is unlikely that Vampire rockets can reach Belgorod from Ukrainian territory without modification work to boost its range.[14] Among locations hit according to a source close to the Russian Investigative Committee were an ice skating rink located in the city's Cathedral Square, a shopping center, a sports center, and a university.[2][13]

Twenty-five people,[15] including five children,[1] were reported to have been killed in the attacks, while 108 people,[3] including 17 children, were injured.[2]

A source from the Ukrainian security services told the BBC that its forces had launched more than 70 drones against Russian military targets in "response to Russia's terrorist attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians", and attributed events in Belgorod to the "incompetent work of Russian air defence", which led to falling fragments.[16] Residents also told independent Russian media outlets that air raid sirens were only heard 30 minutes following the start of the attacks, and that several designated bomb shelters had been locked, while others were not aware of where to seek shelter due to government policy that ruled against the disclosure of the locations of designated shelters.[15]

Response

The Russian Ministry of Defence vowed to avenge the attack, while continuing to attack only "military facilities and infrastructure directly related to them."[17]

Later that evening, Russia conducted missile strikes on Kharkiv, injuring 28 people in what the Russian Defence Ministry said was a direct response to the attacks on Belgorod. It also claimed to have struck only military installations there using high-precision missiles, although Kharkiv’s mayor Ihor Terekhov said the missiles struck civilian infrastructure instead, including “cafes, residential buildings and offices“. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported damage to 12 blocks of flats, 13 homes, hospitals, a hotel building, a kindergarten, commercial premises, a gas pipeline and cars.[18]

The Russian Defence Ministry also claimed "a missile strike on the former Kharkiv Palace Hotel" had killed "representatives of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine and the Armed Forces of Ukraine directly involved in the planning and execution" of the attack in Belgorod. It also claimed that the attack on the building of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Kharkiv Oblast and the temporary deployment point of the Right Sector, which it described as a "nationalist group", had killed "SBU personnel, foreign mercenaries and fighters of the Kraken unit," whom it accused of "subversive actions on Russian territory." Ukrainian intelligence dismissed the claims, stating they were "the sick delusions of the terrorist regime."[19]

Aftermath

On 5 January 2024, the governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that several families comprising at least 100 individuals were evacuated from Belgorod city to Stary Oskol, Gubkin[20][21] and Korochansky District due to the attacks. By 8 January, the number of evacuees reached 300, while requests were made to transfer 1,300 children to schooling camps elsewhere in Russia.[22]

Midnight masses for Orthodox Christmas that were due on 6 January as well as Epiphany celebrations scheduled on 19 January were also cancelled due to the attacks.[23][24]

Reactions

The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed on the attacks, and that health minister Mikhail Murashko would join a team of emergency workers to Belgorod.[4] Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said to the Russian news agency TASS that the United Kingdom and the United States were culpable for the "terrorist attack" on Belgorod for allegedly inciting "the Kyiv regime to carry out terrorist actions." She also accused European Union countries that supply weapons to Ukraine of responsibility.[14]

At an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya denounced the attacks, to which Ukraine and its allies responded by blaming Putin for starting the war.[2] In response, the French envoy said that Ukraine was defending itself under UN laws, while the U.S. and the UK stated that Putin was responsible for Russian deaths by starting the war.[16] UN assistant secretary-general Mohammed Khiari said strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure "violate international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must end now".[16]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Including five children.[1]
  2. ^ Including 17 children.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b "Belgorod: The Russian City Paying the Price for Moscow's War on Ukraine". The Moscow Times. 15 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d "Russia accuses Kyiv of 'terrorist' attack on Belgorod civilians". France 24. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Russia says toll from Ukrainian shelling on border city has risen to 24 as it vows to retaliate". CNN. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  4. ^ a b c d "Shelling kills 21 in Russia's city of Belgorod following Moscow's aerial attacks across Ukraine". AP News. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  5. ^ Méheut, Constant; Nechepurenko, Ivan (30 December 2023). "Ukrainian Missile Attack on a Russian City Kills at Least 20, Officials Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Shelling kills 21 in Russia's city of Belgorod following Moscow's aerial attacks across Ukraine". ABC News. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Strike on Belgorod that killed more than a dozen 'will not go unpunished', Russia says". France 24. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Russia launches fresh drone strikes on Ukraine after promising retaliation for Belgorod attack". ABC News. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  9. ^ Méheut, Constant; Nechepurenko, Ivan (30 December 2023). "Ukrainian Missile Attack on a Russian City Kills at Least 22, Officials Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  10. ^ Gigova, Radina; Tarasova, Darya; Knight, Mariya; Kostenko, Maria; Lister, Tim; Xu, Xiaofei (30 December 2023). "Ukrainian shelling kills 20 Russian civilians, Russia says, a day after Moscow launched major aerial assault". CNN. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  11. ^ "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  12. ^ Times, The Moscow (2 January 2024). "Russia Accidentally Bombs Own Village". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Russia says 20 dead after 'indiscriminate' Ukrainian strikes on Belgorod". Reuters. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Live: Russia says 14 dead after Ukraine strikes border city". BBC News. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Ukraine war: Russians find no shelter in border city of Belgorod". BBC. 4 January 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  16. ^ a b c "Ukraine war: Kremlin says 20 dead after attack on Russian city". BBC. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Ukraine shelling of Belgorod will "not go unpunished", Russia warns". The Guardian. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  18. ^ "Ukraine war: Russia hits back after Kyiv attack on border city". BBC News. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Russia claims it killed Ukrainian intelligence officers in attack on Kharkiv hotel, Ukraine's Defence Intelligence says it's nonsense". Ukrainska Pravda. 31 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  20. ^ "Ukraine war: Some residents leave Belgorod after deadly attacks". BBC. 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Over 100 evacuate Russia's Belgorod while soldiers celebrate Orthodox Christmas on the front line". Associated Press. 6 January 2024. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Russia's Belgorod Evacuates 300 Residents Over Ukrainian Strikes". The Moscow Times. 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  23. ^ "Russia's Belgorod Cancels Orthodox Christmas Masses Amid Rocket Attacks". The Moscow Times. 6 January 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  24. ^ "A Russian border city cancels Orthodox Epiphany events due to the threat of Ukrainian attacks". Associated Press. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.

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