Russia claims it killed Ukrainian intelligence officers in attack on Kharkiv hotel, Ukraine's Defence Intelligence says it's nonsense
The Russian Defence Ministry has claimed that an attack on Kharkiv "has killed representatives of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) who were involved in the planning and execution of the attack on the city of Belgorod, Russia". Ukrainian intelligence has dismissed these remarks as the sick delusions of the terrorist regime.
Source: Russian MoD on Telegram; Andrii Yusov, representative of DIU, in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda
Details: Russia's Defence Ministry, which is killing civilians in Ukraine every day, has accused the AFU of launching a strike using multiple-launch rocket systems on the city of Belgorod, "which claimed the lives of civilians, including children".
The Russians claimed that in response, the Russian Armed Forces "hit decision-making centres and military facilities in the city of Kharkiv".
The report further claimed that "a missile strike on the former Kharkiv Palace Hotel had killed representatives of DIU and the AFU directly involved in the planning and execution of the terrorist attack in Belgorod".
Quote from the Russian MoD: "High-precision missile strikes on the building of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kharkiv Oblast and the temporary deployment point of the Right Sector nationalist group killed representatives of the SSU personnel, foreign mercenaries and fighters of the Kraken unit, who were directly involved in the preparation of subversive actions on Russian territory."
Quote from Yusov: "As for the latest nonsense from what is called the Ministry of Defence of the aggressor state, we can assure you that no DIU officers, nor any DIU soldiers from Ukraine's Kraken special unit, were injured during another terrorist attack on Kharkiv yesterday [30 December].
However, the aggressor has once again attacked civilian targets, not military ones. This is a common practice of the Russian Federation and its terrorist missile strikes, which target civilian infrastructure and civilians. All other claims about the imaginary 'blows' to DIU are just another sick fantasy of people living in a parallel reality and waging a genocidal war against Ukraine, for which they will undoubtedly be punished."
Background:
On Saturday, 30 December, the Russians fired S-300 anti-aircraft missiles on the Kharkiv Palace Hotel premises during a large-scale attack on Kharkiv.
The Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported that 26 people, including children and a foreign citizen, were injured in the attack on the centre of Kharkiv.
The bombardment damaged a hotel, apartment buildings, a kindergarten, administrative buildings, shops, restaurants, retail outlets, personal vehicles belonging to civilians, etc.
On 30 December, explosions rocked Belgorod, Russia, and debris fell in the city centre after Russian air defence was activated. A source in the security services told Ukrainska Pravda that the Defence Forces had targeted Russian military facilities in Belgorod Oblast, but due to "unprofessional actions by air defence" and "planned provocations", the debris fell in the city centre.
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