Moscow, Dec 31 (EFE).- Russia on Sunday attacked the city of Kharkiv, in northwestern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The air strikes, which also hit parts of the south, were in retaliation for Ukraine’s missile attack a day earlier on the Russian border city of Belgorod, the ministry said, which killed at least 24 people and injured over 100 others.
“In response to that terrorist act, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation targeted decision-making centers and military facilities in the city of Kharkov,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
The head of the regional military istration, Oleh Syniehubov, confirmed that three people were killed in the eastern Kharkiv region and 28 others were injured in the overnight attack, Ukrainian state media reported.
The Russian military command said the “Kharkiv Palace” hotel complex was hit, where “representatives of the military intelligence and the Armed Forces of Ukraine who directly participated in the planning and execution of the terrorist attack on Belgorod” were killed.
The Belgorod missile strikes on Saturday were Ukraine’s response to a massive barrage of missile and drone attacks by Russia which hit Kyiv and several other cities a day earlier.
The massive shelling of Ukraine – the largest of the war so far – left at least 39 dead and 160 injured. EFE
mos/ks
