Ukrainian missile and drone strike in Russia kills at least 21 people

At least 21 people were killed and 110 were injured in Russia after a Ukrainian missile and drone strike on Saturday morning. Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod Oblast, said that two children had died in a residential area of Belgorod, the oblast's capital city.

Ukraine carried out the assault in response to Russian missile attacks that killed at least 41 Ukrainians, according to an intelligence source quoted by RBC-Ukraine. The two countries have been at full-scale war since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MOD) said the strikes would "not go unpunished."

The strikes also hit Moscow, Belgorod, Tula, and Tver, said the Ukrainian public broadcaster, Suspilne. Drones also focused on military electronics manufacturer Kremniy El in Bryansk.

32 drones from Ukraine were shot down and destroyed by the Russian air defense systems over four Russian oblasts: Bryansk, Oryol, Kursk, and Moscow, according to the MOD.

== Sister links ==

30 December 2023 Belgorod shelling

29 December 2023 Russian strikes on Ukraine

== Sources ==

Jorge Fitz-Gibbon. Russia attacks Ukrainian city with drone strikes in retaliation for barrage that killed at least 24 — New York Post, December 31, 2023

Michael Dorgan, Reuters. Ukraine missile and drone attack in Russia kills 2, including child — FOX News, December 30, 2023

Ukraine retaliates against Russian mass missile attack with mass drone attack — The New Voice of Ukraine, December 30, 2023

Associated Press. Shelling kills 21 in Russian city of Belgorod after Moscow’s mass aerial attack on Ukraine — PBS NewsHour, December 30, 2023