"Unfortunately, to our great sorrow, the number of those who have died after yesterday's shelling of Belgorod has risen to 24. One of the victims died at night in hospital. I offer my deepest condolences to the relatives and close ones of the victims," Gladkov said on Telegram.
Out of the 109 wounded people, 25 in serious condition are about to be transported to federal hospitals, the governor added.
Ukraine shelled the central part of Belgorod on Saturday afternoon. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Czech-made Vampire rockets and missiles with cluster munitions were fired at the city. Air defense systems intercepted most of the targets, but several projectiles and cluster parts from downed missiles fell on Belgorod.
Due to the attack on Belgorod, firework displays have been canceled in cities across the Russian Far East - in Vladivostok, Blagoveshchensk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and Magadan.
The Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Central Federal District Igor Shchegolev arrived in Belgorod, where he held an urgent meeting with security services and inspected the sites of the Ukrainian attacks.
Attacks on civilian infrastructure and civilians are a violation of international humanitarian law and unacceptable, the office of the UN secretary-general's spokesman told Sputnik, commenting on the Ukrainian attack on Belgorod.
Khaled Khiari, assistant to the UN secretary-general, at a meeting of the Security Council in connection with the strike on Belgorod urged the sides not to attack populated areas, civilian objects, or civilians.
Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, called his Czech counterpart’s refusal to attend the UN Security Council meeting over the shelling of Belgorod an act of cowardice. Earlier, Russia demanded his participation in the meeting to give an explanation in connection with the supply of arms to Kiev, but Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said that the Czech envoy to the UN would not attend the meeting.