Russia says Ukrainian drone attacks kill 19, injure 66 in Belgorod, Tatarstan

Russia said on Monday that 19 people were killed and 66 others injured in two separate Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s Belgorod region and Tatarstan.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement that six civilians were killed and 27 more injured, including children aged four and nine, in the Belgorod region, while 13 people were killed and 39 others injured in the city of Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan

"On the night of August 8-9, the Kyiv neo-Nazis, who are suffering defeats on the front, once again decided to take it out on the civilian population, attacking the residential areas of Belgorod with drones," she said. "On the morning of August 10, the neo-Nazi Kyiv regime sent drones to target residential buildings and industrial facilities."

Approximately 30 apartment buildings, social facilities, administrative and commercial buildings, and over 30 vehicles were damaged, she added.

"We express our heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured," she said.

According to Zakharova, Russia's Investigative Committee has opened criminal cases into the terrorist attacks.

"All those involved will be identified and will face inevitable severe punishment or military retribution," she said.

The spokeswoman accused Kyiv of "deliberately carrying out these militarily senseless strikes for terrorist purposes."

While strongly condemning the latest "vile attacks" by Ukraine, she demanded that members of the international community and relevant international organizations issue a harsh condemnation of Kyiv's "terrorist crimes."

She added: "We will regard silence as complicity and encouragement of further attacks on the civilian population of Russia."