Scene of Ukraine's attack on Belgorod (Photo: Bloomberg).
On December 31, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had retaliated against Ukraine by attacking a series of Kiev's military facilities and decision-making centers in Kharkov.
The move was in response to Ukraine's attack on the city of Belgorod with rockets and long-range artillery on December 30, which killed 24 civilians and injured dozens.
Ukraine's attack on Belgorod was in retaliation for Russia launching its largest-ever attack on Kiev targets on December 29 when Moscow launched 158 missiles and drones.
Russia announced on December 31: "A high-precision missile strike on the former Kharkov Palace hotel complex eliminated representatives of the Main Directorate of Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, who were directly involved in planning and carrying out the attack in Belgorod."
According to the Russian side, there appear to be 200 mercenaries stationed at the complex and planning to carry out attacks inside Russian territory.
In addition, Moscow also struck the building of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, other military targets, eliminated representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence service, foreign mercenaries and members of the Kraken unit that Moscow accused of planning attacks on Russian territory.
Russia said it fired a missile at a branch of the National Space Facility Control Center of Ukraine in the area of the village of Zalestsy in the Khmelnytsky region, which was used for reconnaissance missions.
The December 31 attacks also targeted fuel depots in Kharkiv and the Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhia region, temporary deployment points of units of Ukraine's 59th Airborne Assault Brigade and a concentration of up to 600 foreign mercenaries.
Russia also attacked military equipment and artillery concentrations in the settlements of Selidovo and Kurakhovo in Donetsk. The Russian Defense Ministry assessed that Ukraine suffered "significant losses" in the attacks after losing two HIMARS launchers. Russia suspects that Ukraine plans to use these two launchers to attack Russia in the near future.
Ukraine has not commented on the information Russia has released.
In addition, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its military only attacked military targets and infrastructure directly related to these points.
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