WEB DESK

The UN Security Council has held an emergency meeting at the request of Russia, following an attack on the western part of the country bordering Ukraine. Russia’s ministry of emergency situations said on Saturday that a Ukrainian attack on the city of Belgorod killed 18 people, and injured another 111.

At an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the same day, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said that Ukraine conducted a terrorist attack on civilian targets. A Ukrainian representative condemned the Kremlin for Friday’s missile and drone attacks by Russia on various parts of Ukraine, but did not mention the strike on western Russia. Western countries called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine.

French envoy Nicolas de Riviere said Ukraine is defending itself under the UN Charter, while Moscow is trampling it.  Council members from Africa and South America called on both Russia and Ukraine to hold talks and negotiations to deescalate the situation and achieve peace, in order to reduce civilian casualties.

At least 21 people, including 3 children, killed & 110 others wounded in Ukrainian attack on Russian city of Belgorod

At least 21 people, including three children, were killed and 110 others wounded in a Ukrainian attack on the Russian city of Belgorod yesterday. The Russian Defence Ministry said Kyiv employed rockets carrying cluster bomb warheads in its strike, labelling the attack a crime. The Kremlin said Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed about the attack. Saturday’s shelling comes after Russia launched its biggest air attack on Ukraine since the start of its full-scale invasion, resulting in at least 40 deaths and more than 150 injuries.

Meanwhile, Russia has launched fresh attacks on Ukraine. According to Ukrainian officials, Russia’s drone attacks targeted Kyiv and inflicted damage on residential areas of the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.