Belgorod, a Russian city of 340,000 situated about 40 km from the Ukrainian border, was hit by a Ukrainian missile and long-range MLRS strike on Saturday, with 24 civilians killed and dozens injured. The terror strike came following Friday's massed Russian attacks across Ukraine targeting energy facilities, ammo depots, airfields and military HQs.
The Russian military made good on its promise to "punish" those responsible for Saturday's attack on Belgorod, striking a series of military facilities and decision-making centers in the city of Kharkov.
"A high-precision missile strike on the former Kharkov Palace hotel complex eliminated representatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' Main Intelligence Directorate, who were directly involved in the planning and execution of the terrorist attack in Belgorod," the MoD said in a statement Sunday.
According to the MoD's information, up to two hundred mercenaries were situated at the complex, and were planning to conduct terrorist raids inside Russia.
Additional strikes targeted the building of the Ukrainian Security Service in Kharkov Region, as well as a temporary deployment point of the Right Sector* formation, killing Ukrainian Intelligence Service representatives, foreign mercenaries and militants from the Kraken unit, who were similarly planning sabotage attacks on Russian territory.
Separately, Russian missiles hit a branch of the Ukrainian National Space Facilities Control Center in the area of the village of Zalestsy in Khmelnytsky region used for reconnaissance.
Sunday's strikes also targeted fuel depots in Kharkov and Ukrainian controlled areas of Zaporozhye, the temporary deployment points of units of Ukraine's 59th Motorized Infantry and 79th Airborne Assault Brigades, and a concentration of up to 600 foreign mercenaries. The attacks also hit concentrations of military equipment and artillery in the settlements of Selidovo, Kurakhovo and the Korotchenko Mine in the occupied portion of the Donetsk People's Republic.
The MoD assessed Ukrainian forces to have suffered "significant losses" in the latter strikes, including the destruction of two HIMARS launches which the military said were going to be used to target Donetsk during the New Year's holidays.
"We emphasize once again that the Russian Armed Forces only strike military targets and infrastructure directly associated with them," the MoD summarized.
Sunday's attacks followed promises by the Russian military a day earlier that Ukraine's daylight terror attack on downtown Belgorod "will not go unpunished."
Ukraine struck the downtown of the Russian city near the border with Kharkov region at about 3 pm local time on Saturday using Vilkha heavy MLRS-launched cluster munitions and rockets launched by Czech-made Vampir MLRS systems. The Russian military said it intercepted the Vilkhas and most of the Vampirs, but that several rockets got through, with remnants of the Vilkhas' cluster bombs dropping from the skies, resulting in casualties and damage. At least 24 people were killed in the Belgorod attacks, including at least four children. 108 others were injured. 37 apartment buildings, 453 apartments, three private households and seven social and government facilities were damaged.
Kiev launched its terror strikes a day after Russia carried out a massive attack on energy facilities, ammunition depots, airfields, ports, fuel terminals and military headquarters using over 120 cruise and ballistic missiles and dozens of drones in Kiev, Kharkov, Dnepropetrovsk, Lvov, Odessa, Konotop and the Ukrainian-controlled portion of Zaporozhye on Friday.
Russia liberated wide swathes of Kharkov region in early 2022, surrounding the regional capital city of Kharkov, but made the tactical decision to withdraw to the border area to avoid losses in September 2022, concentrating on preparations for Ukraine's counteroffensive in Zaporozhye, Kherson and the Donbass the following summer. The region has since become a hotbed of artillery, missile and drone strikes and sabotage attacks into Belgorod region, with Russian forces recently kicking off a series of low-key campaigns to reestablish a foothold in Kharkov region.
Watch: Group of Retreating Ukrainian Soldiers Shot by Barrier Troops
The Kiev regime has been accused of using anti-retreat forces, which are military units tasked with preventing the withdrawal of their own troops. In mid-October, the governor of the Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, said that Ukrainian barrier troops had opened fire on Ukrainian servicemen for refusing to cross the Dnepr River.
A Ukrainian barrier unit has shot at a group of retreating fighters from the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a source familiar with the situation told Sputnik, providing the agency with video footage taken by a drone confirming it.
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"The Ukrainian Armed Forces are using the tactics of anti-retreat forces, and with them they are trying to hold back mobilized and territorial defense forces unwilling to die at the positions," the source said.
The footage shows the Russian military assaulting a Ukrainian stronghold. As soon as two Russian fighters enter the trench, five Ukrainian soldiers start running out the other side of the trench towards rear positions. However, after the fleeing soldiers reached their trench, Ukrainian barrier troops positioned there started shooting at their fellow soldiers and then threw grenades at them.
One of the retreating Ukrainian soldiers tried to run further to the rear, but the fighters from the barrier unit spotted him and started shooting him in the back.
Watch: Russian Kh-101 Long-Range Cruise Missile in Action
A cruise missile is a guided, self-propelled weapon that can travel long distances. It is designed to evade radar detection and avoid interception by enemy defenses. Cruise missiles are typically launched from aircraft, ships, or ground-based platforms and can carry a variety of payloads.
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The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing capabilities of the Kh-101 cruise missile.
The Kh-101 is a strategic, long-range cruise missile that entered service with the Russian military in 2013 and was developed by the legendary Raduga Design Bureau. Capable of flying up to 5,500 km and carrying a 400 kg warhead in its conventional variant and a 250 kiloton to one megaton warhead in its nuclear version.
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