What happened in Belgorod was a terrorist act, it was a targeted attack on the civilian population, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
"What has happened now in Belgorod is undoubtedly a terrorist act. Why, because under the cover of two Alder missiles, I think what they did, they struck using multiple rocket launchers. An MLRS, you military people know, is a weapon that hits areas, and with this weapon they struck right in the center of the city, where people were walking, before New Year's Eve," Putin said at a meeting with participants of the special military operation on Monday.
He said it was a "targeted attack on the civilian population."
"Of course, this is a terrorist act, you can't call it anything else," the Russian president stressed.
On Saturday afternoon, Ukraine shelled central Belgorod. The Russian Defense Ministry said Czech-made Vampire rockets and missiles with cluster munitions were fired at the city. Air defense systems intercepted most of them, but several projectiles and cluster fragments from downed rockets fell on Belgorod.
On January 1, Ukrainian forces shelled the city of Donetsk in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Three people were killed in the shelling.
Since the beginning of the special military operation, the Kiev regime has been attacking Russian territory with drones and missiles. In August, after a botched drone attack on Moscow, the United Nations said it did not want to see civilian infrastructure targeted.