Among the victims in Belgorod were two children. More than 100 people were also injured in the attack, about three miles from the Ukrainian border, according to the Russian data.
“This attack will not go unanswered,” the Kremlin said in a statement.
Russian authorities also state that 32 Ukrainian drones have been shot down during the night to Saturday, including in the Moscow area.
The attacks came a day after what was described as the most extensive assault on Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country just under two years ago. Robots and drones were fired at, among other things, a maternity clinic, residential buildings, schools and shopping centers.
Mourning in Kyiv
In total, at least 39 people were killed during the 18-hour attack, according to the AP news agency, which also writes that another 160 people were injured. In addition, an unknown number of people are buried under the rubble.
For Kyiv, it was the deadliest day so far during the war of invasion, in terms of the number of civilian casualties, Mayor Vitaly Klytchko writes on the Telegram messaging service. So far, 16 dead have been found in the riots after a warehouse was attacked in the capital area. But the rescue work is still going on.
January 1 will be an official day of mourning in Kiev, according to Klytchko.
Condemned by the West
The UN Security Council gathered in an extraordinary meeting on Friday evening due to the attacks. They are condemned by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and a number of Western countries in the Security Council.
“Unfortunately, today’s terrible attacks were just the latest in a series of escalated attacks from Russia,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Mohamed Khiari during the Security Council meeting.
After Saturday’s Ukrainian counterattack, Russia appealed to the UN to call an emergency meeting of the Security Council. Later, several council members stated that the UN will gather for a meeting regarding the attack, according to AFP.