Russia-Ukraine war: ‘Would intensify strikes on military targets in…’, Putin warns
Vladimir Putin on Monday after an unprecedented Ukrainian attack over the weekend on the Russian city of Belgorod that killed 25 people including five children. This came after Moscow launched a large-scale attack on Ukrainian cities. Kyiv also said Russia had targeted the country with a "record" number of drones on New Year's Day, AFP reported.
During a visit to a military hospital, Putin said, “We're going to intensify the strikes. No crime against civilians will rest unpunished, that's for certain. We are doing that today and tomorrow we will continue doing it." His comments came at the end of a deadly week in Ukraine, with both sides hitting each other with large-scale attacks.
Putin said Russia would continue to hit what he called "military installations". "What happened in Belgorod is a terrorist act," he told wounded Russian soldiers sitting near him in hospital pajamas and sanitary masks. "There is no other way to call it." He accused Ukrainian forces of targeting "right in the city center, where people were walking around, before New Year's Eve", and alleged they had "purposefully hit the civilian population".
Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced Monday that the death toll from the attack on the city had risen to 25, saying medics were unable to save a toddler who was seriously injured in the attack. "This is an irreparable loss for all of us," Gladkov said, adding that 109 people were wounded, 45 of whom were still in medical facilities, as per AFP reports. Speaking about the situation on the battlefield, Putin said the "strategic initiative" in the drawn-out conflict in Ukraine was on the Russian side since the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the summer.
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