Toll of attack on Belgorod rises to 24 dead, including 4 children

“Pat 08:30 (05:30 in Lisbon) the number of dead is 24″, wrote Viacheslav Gladkov in his account on the instant messaging application Telegram, specifying that four of the fatal victims were children.

He added that there are 108 injured people in hospitals, 25 of whom are in serious condition.

The previous report showed 18 dead and 111 injured.

The Belgorod region, which has a 552-kilometer border with Ukraine, was the Russian region most affected by border incidents since the military conflict began in February 2022.

Saturday’s attack on Belgorod came a day after intense shelling in Ukraine that killed 39 people, authorities said.

Following the attack, Russia accused Ukraine of committing an act of “deliberate terrorism” and of having used cluster bombs in Belgorod.

It is “a blind and deliberate attack against a civilian target,” said Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassili Nebenzia, accusing Ukraine of targeting a sports center, a skating rink and a university.

Kiev has not yet reacted to the accusations, but the Russian Defense Ministry assured that the attack will not go “unpunished”.

The military offensive launched on February 24, 2022 by Russia in Ukraine caused, according to the most recent UN data, the worst refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).

The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by most of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing Russia from political and economic sanctions.

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