Live blog: UNSC to convene on Ukraine's Belgorod strike – Russia

Saturday, December 30, 2023

1748 GMT — The United Nations Security Council will convene at Russia's request to discuss what Moscow claims was a deadly Ukrainian strike on the city of Belgorod, the Russian mission to the UN said.

"Today... at 4 pm New York (2100 GMT) time a meeting of the UN Security Council requested by Russia will take place in connection with the strikes on Belgorod," Russia's mission said on social media on Saturday.

Three other council members, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the meeting to AFP.

Russia accused Ukraine of targeting the city of Belgorod with missiles and rockets, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens more in an attack Moscow warned would "not go unpunished."

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1823 GMT — Russian strikes in Kharkiv wound at least 8: officials

A Russian attack on central Kharkiv injured eight people, striking a medical institution, apartment buildings and other civilian sites, the regional governor said.

"Doctors are providing assistance to eight victims at this moment, all of them hospitalised," Oleh Synehubov, governor of Kharkiv region, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

"The occupiers hit the central part of the city of Kharkiv," he said, adding that "exclusively civilian infrastructure" had been affected. This included "a medical institution, multi-apartment residential buildings, shops and other public places, (and) transportation", he said.

1621 GMT — Russia says seeking UN Security Council meeting on Belgorod

Russia requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss what it said was a deadly Ukrainian strike on the city of Belgorod.

"We have requested a meeting of the Security Council on Belgorod for 15.00 New York time (2000 GMT) today, 30 December," Moscow's deputy permanent representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

1518 GMT — Ukrainian strike on Belgorod 'will not go unpunished': Russia

Russia said that a Ukrainian strike on the city of Belgorod that it said killed at least 14 people "would not go unpunished."

"This offence will not go unpunished," Russia's defence ministry said in a statement.

1510 GMT — Russia says 14 killed in Ukrainian strike on Belgorod

Russia said a Ukrainian strike killed at least 14 people and injured 108 in the city of Belgorod, a day after Russian strikes killed dozens in Ukraine.

Belgorod lies about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border with Ukraine and has been repeatedly targeted by what Russia says is indiscriminate shelling by Kiev's forces.

Unverified footage showed debris strewn across the street and smoke billowing from burnt-out cars in the city's centre, while a large blast can be heard in dashcam footage posted on social media.

1324 GMT — Moscow says the West wants to open another front against Russia in the Caucasus

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said the United States wants "to open a second front against Russia" in the South Caucasus.

In an interview to the Russian state news agency RIA, Galuzin criticised "external interference" in the affairs of Caucasus, meaning Armenia's turn to the West over the situation in the Karabakh region where Azerbaijan restored its sovereignty in the fall.

The Armenian authorities blamed Russia for the "loss" of the territory that had been under Yerevan's occupation for some 30 years and started seeking support against Azerbaijan in the West.

1225 GMT — Ukrainian shelling kills two children in Belgorod: Russia

Ukrainian shelling killed two children in the Russian city of Belgorod, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border with Ukraine, the region's governor said.

"The Ukrainian armed forces shelled the centre of Belgorod," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"According to preliminary information, there are two dead children and injured."

1248 GMT — Zelenskyy says Russian strikes killed 39 on Friday

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least 39 people had been killed by Russian strikes the previous day, one of the deadliest attacks since the war began.

"Work is still underway to eliminate the consequences of yesterday's Russian attack," Zelenskyy said.

"In total, 159 people were injured in this terrorist attack. Unfortunately, 39 of them have been killed so far."

1202 GMT — Russia says it thwarted a Kiev drone attack following its aerial assault against Ukraine

Thirty-two Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia, Moscow officials reported, a day after an 18-hour aerial barrage across Ukraine killed at least 39 civilians.

Drones were seen in the skies over Russia's Moscow, Bryansk, Oryol and Kursk regions, the country's defence ministry said in a statement. It said that all of the drones had been destroyed by air defences.

Cities across western Russia have come under regular attacks from drones since May, with Russian officials blaming Kiev.

1053 GMT — Russia to decide on gas deliveries via Ukraine based on demand in EU

Russia will decide on the extension of an agreement on gas deliveries to Europe via Ukraine depending on the demand in the EU, a senior Russian diplomat said.

In an interview to the Russian state news agency RIA, Dmitry Birichevsky, the director of the Foreign Ministry Department for Economic Cooperation, pointed out that the EU in March 2022 declared the intention to gradually stop buying Russian energy.

"More recently, statements were heard from Kiev about its disinterest in extending the transit contract," he noted, adding that if Ukraine refuses to extend the agreement that ends in 2024, it will lose the income it gets for transit.

0628 GMT — 'Massive' Russian strikes kill at least 30 across Ukraine

Russia launched a massive air attack over Ukraine, killing at least 30 people and wounding scores across the country in the fiercest assault since the first days of the war nearly two years ago.

Interior Minister Igor Klymenko announced on Telegram: "As of now, 30 people have been killed, and more than 160 wounded as a result of Russia's massive attack on Ukrainian territory in the morning."

Schools, a maternity hospital, shopping arcades and blocks of flats were among the buildings hit in the barrage, said Ukrainian officials.

2300 GMT — Ukraine deploys air defence systems in living quarters: Russia

Ukrainian authorities are stationing air defence systems in residential areas in defiance of international law, Russian envoy to United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has said, according to the Russian TASS news agency.

"If there is anything to talk about today, it is about actions of the Ukrainian AD systems stationed in residential quarters of Ukrainian cities in violation of the international humanitarian law," the Russian diplomat told a meeting of the UN Security Council.

2230 GMT — Russia says downed 13 rockets, 6 drones in Belgorod, Bryansk

Russia's Defence Ministry said its anti-aircraft units had destroyed 13 Ukrainian rockets over the southern Belgorod region, and the regional governor said one person was killed and four wounded in the incidents.

The governor of Bryansk region, also in southern Russia, said six Ukrainian drones had been downed.

A ministry statement said units in the Belgorod region had thwarted "an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack," with 13 rockets downed.

For our live updates from Friday (December 29), click here.