Six dead in attack in Kursk, Russia, after deadly missile attack in Kyiv

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

This comes after Ukrainian officials said Moscow had launched a new missile attack on kyiv, damaging a building housing several embassies.

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

Alexander Khinshtein said a cultural centre, a gymnasium, a school and homes were damaged in the attack which took place at 3:30 p.m. local time (12:30 GMT).

Ukrainian troops still control parts of the Kursk region after launching a surprise raid in August.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said the Russian attack in the capital had affected the diplomatic missions of Albania, Argentina, North Macedonia, Palestine, Portugal and Montenegro. It is not clear if the building that housed them was directly targeted.

At least one person was killed and nine others were wounded in the attack that damaged several buildings in the city, Ukraine’s military said. It is not believed that any of the embassy diplomats were injured.

In verified video filmed in the Pecherskyi district, kyiv’s second-oldest Roman Catholic church, St. Nicholas Cathedral, is shown with its windows shattered after a nearby explosion.

Ukraine’s military said Russia launched 65 drones and missiles across the country overnight, most shot down.

A man in kyiv, who said he owned a restaurant that suffered extensive damage after the attack, was filmed cursing Russians as “beasts” as he inspected the charred hull of a building in front of him.

The video was widely shared on social media.

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

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

“My balcony flew away, half of my walls are gone. 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 had been used by the Ukrainian Security Service, the SBU, and had probably been the target of the attacks, although much of the damage seen by the BBC had affected residential buildings.

In a statement confirming the attack, the Russian Defense Ministry said missiles had been launched at an SBU “command post” in response to an attack on a chemical plant in Russia’s Rostov region two days ago.

But there is also speculation in kyiv that Friday’s attack could be linked to the murder of a Russian General, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillovin Moscow on Tuesday.

Friday’s attack occurred a day later. Vladimir Putin’s year-end press conference and a telephone program, in which he threatened to launch more ballistic missiles against the Ukrainian capital.

There is concern in Kyiv that Russia could use a the so-called Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile to reach the capital. Moscow test-fired the missile against the city of Dnieper earlier this month.

On Friday morning, Ukrainian authorities issued an air alert related to the possible launch of an Oreshnik missile and urged the population of kyiv to urgently seek shelter. It turned out to be a false alarm.