Here is a summary of today's events so far:
Russia’s Ministry of Defence has hinted at retaliation to Ukraine’s shelling of Belgorod. The number of people killed by a Ukrainian strike in the Russian city of Belgorod has risen to 14, with 108 injured, Russia’s emergencies ministry said on Saturday.
It appears Ukrainian forces had struck military targets in Belgorod in response to Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities the previous day. At least 39 people were killed in Friday’s strikes, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said. Ukrainian forces have called it the most ferocious airstrike launched by Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
Russia experienced a sharp rise in the number of killed and wounded troops in 2023, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence. In its daily intelligence briefing, the MoD said the average daily number of Russian casualties (killed and wounded) had risen by almost 300 a day compared with 2022.
Moscow is not going to give an explanation for a missile in Polish airspace until it is provided with “hard evidence” it was Russian, said Andrei Ordash, Russia’s chargé d’affaires in Poland, after being summoned to the Polish foreign ministry. Poland’s armed forces said an unknown airborne object, which they identified as a Russian missile, entered the country’s airspace from the direction of Ukraine for less than three minutes.
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Ukraine shelling of Belgorod will "not go unpunished", Russia warns
Russia’s Ministry of Defence has hinted at retaliation over Ukraine’s shelling of Belgorod.
The ministry said in a statement: “The Kyiv regime, which committed this crime, is trying to distract attention from defeats at the front, and also provoke us to similar actions.
“We emphasize that the Russian armed forces work only on military facilities and infrastructure directly related to them.
“We will continue to do so. This crime will not go unpunished.”
The Ukrainian news outlet RBC-Ukraine quoted sources as saying Ukrainian forces had struck military targets in Belgorod in response to Russian bombardment of Ukrainian cities the previous day.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022 in what it calls a “special military operation”, unleashed its biggest air attack of the war on Friday.
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