Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking Belgorod with Vampire missiles. However, Kiev denies responsibility for the attacks.
Belgorod – The Russian border region of Belgorod reported renewed shelling by the Ukrainian army. However, the Russian Defense Ministry said on January 8 that the attack had been foiled. As the ministry further explained, the Russian defense destroyed ten projectiles from the Czech RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launcher system of the Ukrainian military. Kiev has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Russia reports evacuation of civilians from Belgorod
In Russia, the authorities said they brought around 300 people from Belgorod to safety after attacks from Ukraine. The people who voluntarily decided to evacuate would initially be accommodated in emergency shelters in districts further away from the border, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov in a video on the Telegram online service. In the past 24 hours, 1,300 requests have been received for the evacuation of children from Belgorod who should be taken “to school camps outside the city, in other regions,” explained Gladkow.
On Friday, the governor offered people in Belgorod, which is less than 32 kilometers from the border with Ukraine and has recently been increasingly attacked from there, to evacuate them. It is the largest evacuation from a Russian city since the beginning of the Ukraine war almost two years ago.
Is Ukraine responsible for the attack on Belgorod?
25 people were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod at the end of December. The attack followed massive Russian bombings of Ukrainian cities that killed 30 people. The RM-70 is capable of firing 40 122 mm caliber rockets in 20 seconds with a range of up to 20 kilometers. Therefore, there are doubts that Ukraine attacked Belgorod with the multiple rocket launcher system. The Russian city is more than ten kilometers further than the maximum range of the missiles.
Zelensky threatens Russia with retaliation
Russia, on the other hand, has intensified its attacks on Ukraine again in the past few days. Four people were recently killed and 45 others injured in the areas of Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and in the home region of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj Kryvyi Rih. According to his own statements, Zelensky does not want to leave Russia's latest serious attacks unanswered. “The terrorist state will definitely feel
our response,” the Ukrainian president said in his evening video address on Monday. (erpe/dpa/AFP)
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