Six killed in Ukrainian missile strike on Russia’s Belgorod — governor

This handout photograph published on the official Telegram account of Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, on Feb. 15, 2024, shows rescuers working at a damaged shopping center following an air attack on Belgorod. (AFP)

• Seventeen other people, including four children, were hospitalized with injuries, with six in serious condition, Gladkov said
• “We are all grieving with the families and friends of the victims”

BELGOROD, Russia: Six people including a one-year-old girl were killed in a Ukrainian missile attack on Thursday on the southern Russian city of Belgorod, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.
Seventeen other people, including four children, were hospitalized with injuries, with six in serious condition, Gladkov said, adding that two children had already been released for outpatient treatment. He said the one-year-old child’s name was Valentina.
“We are all grieving with the families and friends of the victims,” Gladkov wrote on Telegram. “I want to express my sincere condolences, realizing that there are no words that can comfort this grief.”
Belgorod is the nearest major Russian city to the border with Ukraine, and the city and surrounding region have come under frequent attack since February 2022 when Russia sent forces into Ukraine in what it calls a “special military operation.”
Russian authorities said 25 civilians were killed in the largest of these attacks at the end of December.
The Russian health ministry said it had despatched a team of medical specialists from federal centers to Belgorod.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the events an “act of terrorism by the Kyiv regime” on Telegram and said Russia would take the case to the UN Security Council.
There was no immediate comment from Kyiv on the attacks.
The Russian defense ministry said its air defense systems had shot down 14 Ukrainian missiles over the Belgorod region. Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
The governor of the neighboring Kursk region, Roman Starovoit, said a shopping mall, an outdoor sports facility and residential areas were hit. “The enemy is deliberately hitting a cluster of civilians,” he said.
Video posted by Russian media showed Gladkov arriving at a store called Magnit, which had nearly all its windows shattered. Additional footage showed apartment complexes with blown-out windows and emergency workers running to aid injured people at an outdoor sports complex.