Six killed in strike on Russia’s Kursk after deadly missile attack on Kyiv

Russia says six people were killed, including a child, in a Ukrainian strike in the Kursk region.

It comes after Ukrainian officials said Moscow launched a new missile attack on kyiv, damaging a building housing several embassies.

In Russia, the acting governor of the Kursk region said that in addition to those killed, several people had been hospitalized following the attack on the town of Rylsk.

Alexander Khinshtein said a cultural center, fitness center, school and homes were damaged during the strike, which took place at 3:30 p.m. local time (12:30 GMT).

Ukrainian troops are still holding parts of the Kursk region after launching a surprise incursion in August.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the Russian strike in the capital affected the diplomatic missions of Albania, Argentina, North Macedonia, Palestine, Portugal and Montenegro. It is not known whether the building housing them was directly targeted.

At least one person died and nine others were injured in the strike which damaged several buildings in the city, the Ukrainian army said. No embassy diplomats are believed to have been injured.

In verified video filmed in the Pecherskyi district, kyiv's second oldest Roman Catholic church, St. Nicholas Cathedral, is shown with its windows shattered following a nearby explosion.

Ukraine's military said Russia launched 65 drones and missiles across the country overnight, with most being shot down.

A man in kyiv, who said he was the owner of a restaurant that suffered extensive damage following the attack, was filmed insulting Russians as “stupid” as he examined the charred hull of a building in front of him.

The video was widely shared on social media.

Oksana, another resident, sent the BBC photos of her destroyed apartment, with windows blown out and glass and bricks strewn across the floor.

“I don’t understand how I survived,” she said.

“My balcony is gone, half of my walls have disappeared. 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 Ukraine's security services, the SBU, and was likely the target of the strikes, although much of the damage noted by the BBC concerned residential buildings.

In a statement confirming the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said missiles were launched at an SBU “command post” in response to a strike on a chemical plant in Russia's Rostov region two years ago. days.

But speculation is also circulating in kyiv that Friday's attack could be linked to the assassination of a Russian general, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillovin Moscow on Tuesday.

Friday's attack comes a day after Vladimir Putin's end-of-year press conference and a call-in broadcast, in which he threatened to launch more ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital.

There are fears in Kyiv that Russia could use a so-called Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile to strike the capital. Moscow tested the missile on the city of Dnipro earlier this month.

Earlier Friday morning, Ukrainian authorities issued an air alert related to the possible launch of an Oreshnik missile and urged residents of kyiv to urgently seek shelter. It turned out to be a false alarm.