RT reported that the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Russian army had launched a series of high-precision missile attacks targeting Ukrainian military facilities and officials in response to Kiev's attack on Belgorod on December 30, 2023.
In a statement on December 31, 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry noted that the Russian military had attacked decision-making centers and other military targets in the city of Kharkiv, not far from the border between the two countries.
The high-precision missile attack on the former Kharkiv Palace Hotel has eliminated representatives of the General Department of Intelligence and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, who directly participated in planning and carrying out the terrorist attack in Belgorod, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The officials added that the building is also home to 200 foreign mercenaries preparing for terrorist attacks on Russian territory.
Other attacks targeted the building of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the temporary deployment area of Ukrainian nationalists. The SBU leaders, foreign hostages and fighters of the Kraken unit - who directly prepared for sabotage in Russian territory - were killed, the officials said.
Another attack also targeted a branch of the national space control center in western Ukraine, which Kiev used for reconnaissance. According to the statement, fuel depots in Kharkiv and the Kiev-controlled area in Zaporizhzhia province were also destroyed. The ministry stressed that the Russian military only attacks military targets and infrastructure directly related to these facilities.
Ukrainian officials in Kharkiv confirmed the attack, saying there were 6 attacks that damaged civilian infrastructure with 28 people injured.
The new attack in response to Ukraine's Belgorod shelling killed at least 24 people, including four children, and injured 108 others. Moscow said the attack used both cluster bombs and Czech-made bombs.
On December 30, 2023, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia accused Western countries of being complicit in the attack, warning that those who staged the incident would be " punished".
