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ST. PETERSBURG, December 31 . Vologda authorities decided to cancel extensive New Year's festivities, including a concert on the central square on New Year's Eve, as well as a number of events on January 1 and 2 due to shelling of Belgorod by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the mayor of the city Sergei Voropanov reported on Telegram.
“»Yesterday's tragedy in Belgorod did not leave anyone indifferent. The inhumane attack on civilians claimed many lives. Our condolences to the relatives of the victims, we wish the victims to recover quickly,» he wrote.
“We have decided to abandon extensive New Year’s festivities in Vologda. Now is not the time. The concert on the central square on New Year’s Eve will be canceled, as well as the events on January 1 and 2, which were supposed to take place from 16.00 to 18.00 on the Kremlin Square,” Voropanov said.
On Saturday afternoon, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that the Ukrainian military had shelled the center of Belgorod. According to official data as of 8.30 Sunday, 24 people were killed and 108 injured as a result of the Ukrainian Armed Forces strike. Various destructions were detected in 37 apartment buildings, 453 apartments, 3 private households, and 7 social facilities.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that air defense systems intercepted Vilkha missiles and most of the Vampire MLRS rockets; several rockets and cluster parts from the downed Vilkha missiles hit Belgorod. As noted in the military department, in the event of a direct hit by the Vilkha MLRS cluster munitions on Belgorod, and not their fragments, there would be disproportionately more casualties among the civilian population. The Ministry of Defense also indicated that the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a strike on Belgorod in an attempt to divert attention from defeats at the front and provoke Russian troops into similar actions; the strike on Belgorod will not go unpunished.
Yesterday, 18:04 InfographicsMap of the special operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine as of 12/30/2023