ReutersRussia says six people, including a child, have been killed in a Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region.
This came after Ukrainian officials said Moscow launched a new missile attack on Kiev, damaging a building housing several embassies.
In Russia, the acting governor of the Kursk region said that in addition to those killed, several were hospitalized after the attack on the city of Rylsk.
Alexander Khinshtein said a cultural center, a fitness complex, a school and houses were damaged in the strike, which took place at 3:30 p.m. local time (12:30 GMT).
Ukrainian troops still hold parts of the Kursk region after a surprise attack in August.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russia’s attack in the capital had impacted diplomatic missions of Albania, Argentina, North Macedonia, Palestine, Portugal and Montenegro. It is unclear whether the building where they were housed was directly attacked.
According to the Ukrainian military, at least one person died and nine others were injured in the attack, which damaged several buildings in the city. It is not believed that any of the embassy diplomats were injured.
In a verified video filmed in Pecherskyi district, the windows of Kiev’s second oldest Roman Catholic church, St. Nicholas Cathedral, can be seen, whose windows were shattered after an explosion nearby.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia fired 65 drones and missiles across the country overnight, most of which were shot down.
A man in Kiev who said he was the owner of a restaurant that suffered significant damage after the attack was filmed calling Russians “beasts” while looking at the charred shell of a building in front of him.
The video was widely shared on social media.
EPAOksana, another resident, sent the BBC photos of her destroyed apartment, with smashed windows and scattered glass and brickwork on the floors.
“I don’t understand how I survived,” she said.
“My balcony blew away, half of my walls are gone. My neighbor is so shocked that she can’t even speak. I have no words for the people who did this.”
A local journalist at the scene told the BBC that one of the nearby buildings had been used by the Ukrainian security service SBU and was likely the target of the attacks, although much of the damage noted by the BBC was to residential buildings.
In a statement confirming the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said missiles were fired at an SBU “command post” in response to an attack on a chemical plant in Russia’s Rostov region two days ago.
However, there is also speculation in Kiev that Friday’s attack could be linked to the assassination of Russian general Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov in Moscow on Tuesday.
Friday’s attack came a day after Vladimir Putin’s end-of-year press conference and conference call in which he threatened to fire more ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital.
There are concerns in Kiev that Russia could use a so-called Oreshnik medium-range ballistic missile to hit the capital. Moscow test-fired the missile at the city of Dnipro earlier this month.
On Friday morning, Ukrainian authorities issued an air warning in connection with the possible launch of an Oreshnik missile and urged people in Kiev to urgently seek shelter. It turned out to be a false alarm.
