Six killed in attack on Russia’s Kursk after deadly missile attack on Kiev

Russia says six people, including a child, have been killed in a Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region.

It came as Ukrainian officials said Moscow launched a fresh missile attack on Kiev, damaging a building that hosts several embassies.

In Russia, the acting governor of the Kursk region said that in addition to those killed, several people were taken to hospital after the attack on the city of Rylsk.

Alexander Khinshtein said a cultural centre, a fitness complex, a school and homes were damaged in the strike, which took place at 15:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

Ukrainian troops still hold parts of the Kursk region after launching a sudden offensive in August.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the diplomatic missions of Albania, Argentina, North Macedonia, Palestine, Portugal and Montenegro were affected by Russia’s attack on the capital. It is unclear whether the building they lived in was directly targeted.

Ukraine’s military said at least one person was killed and nine others were injured in the attack, which damaged several buildings in the city. It does not appear that any diplomat from the embassy was injured.

A verified video filmed in the Pechersky district shows St. Nicholas Cathedral, Kiev’s second-oldest Roman Catholic church, with broken windows after a nearby explosion.

Ukraine’s military said Russia fired 65 drones and missiles across the country overnight, most of which were shot down.

A man in Kiev, who said he owned a restaurant that suffered extensive damage after the attack, was filmed cursing Russians as “animals” while surveying the burnt-out shell of a building in front of him .

This video was shared widely on social media.

Another resident, Oksana, sent the BBC photos of her destroyed apartment, with windows blown out and glass and bricks scattered on the floor.

“I don’t understand how I survived,” she said.

“My balcony got blown off, half my walls got blown off. My neighbor is so shocked she can’t even speak. I have no words for the people who did this.”

A local journalist at the scene told the BBC that one of the nearby buildings was used by the Ukrainian security service, the SBU, and was likely the target of the attacks, although most of the damage seen by the BBC affected residential buildings.

In a statement confirming the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said the missiles were fired at an SBU “command post” in response to an attack on a chemical plant in the Rostov region of Russia two days earlier.

But there is also speculation in Kiev that Friday’s attack may be linked to a murder Russian general, Lieutenant-General Igor KirillovIn Moscow on Tuesday.

Friday’s attack happened a day later Vladimir Putin’s year-end press conference and a phone-in show, in which he threatened to launch more ballistic missiles at the Ukrainian capital.

There are concerns in Kiev that Russia could use So-called Orasonic intermediate-range ballistic missile To attack the capital. Moscow tested a missile over the city of Dnipro earlier this month.

Earlier on Friday morning, Ukrainian authorities issued an aerial alert related to a possible launch of an Oreshnik missile and urged people in Kiev to seek immediate shelter. It turned out to be a false alarm.