Russia says it has attacked Ukrainian military sites in the capital Kiev and Kharkiv with a new wave of drone and missile attacks within days, in retaliation for a deadly attack a day earlier on the city of Belgorod.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Sunday it had hit “decision centers and military facilities” in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, after Kiev said residential buildings, a hotel and cafes had been hit.

At least six rockets hit Kharkiv in the first wave of overnight attacks, Ukrainian national police said on Sunday. At least 22 people were injured and twelve houses, 13 houses and a kindergarten were hit.

Most of the drones were aimed at Ukraine’s first line of defense as well as civilian, military and infrastructure in the Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, the Ukrainian Air Force said, adding that it destroyed 21 of 49 attack drones.

Ukrainian officials had previously said that among those injured in Kharkiv were two boys aged 14 and 16, as well as a security adviser from a team of German journalists.

Shortly before midnight, several waves of Russian drones hit residential buildings in central Kharkiv and started fires as part of a broader bombardment of Ukraine that also targeted Kiev, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, said.

“On the eve of the New Year, the Russians want to intimidate our city, but we are not afraid – we are unbreakable and invincible!” said Mayor Ihor Terekhov.

‘terrorist attack’

Russia accused Ukraine of carrying out a “terrorist attack” on civilians in the city of Belgorod on Saturday using, among other things, controversial cluster munitions, killing at least 22 people and wounding dozens more.

Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov on Sunday called on residents of the city of Belgorod to hide in shelters as a missile warning was issued in the city, according to a post on his Telegram account.

Earlier, Moscow said the attack, which followed waves of missile and drone strikes by Russian forces on Ukrainian cities, “will not go unpunished.”

At an emergency meeting in the UN Security Council called for by Russia, envoy Vasily Nebenzya claimed that Kiev had targeted a sports center, an ice rink and a university.

“[It was a] “Deliberate, indiscriminate attack on a civilian target,” Nebenzya said on Saturday.

At least 40 people were killed Friday in one of Russia’s biggest attacks on Ukraine since the invasion nearly two years ago.

Nebenzya defended the attacks, saying that Moscow only targeted military infrastructure and that Ukraine’s air defense systems were responsible for civilian casualties.

Poland, a member of the NATO military alliance, on Friday said a Russian missile briefly flew through its airspace before departure, causing concern in the country that borders Ukraine.

Will Western support continue?

Fighting between Russia and Ukraine has intensified over the past week amid speculation that the war has stalled.

US President Joe Biden said on Saturday he would speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky following the recent attacks.

Biden said Friday the attack shows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goals in Ukraine remain “unchanged,” nearly two years after Russia first launched its invasion.

“He is trying to wipe out Ukraine and subjugate its people. It must be stopped,” Biden said in a statement.

While support for Ukraine remains strong in Western countries, further military aid is facing increasing resistance from conservative political forces in the US and Europe.

The United States, Ukraine’s largest single-country donor, has provided more than $40 billion in aid since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

But right-wing Republicans in Congress expressed increasing skepticism about approving more funding for Ukraine.

The US Senate will vote on an aid package for Ukraine in 2024. But Congress could continue to withhold the money.

The stalemate over U.S. aid to Kiev is mirrored in the European Union, where Hungary is blocking an aid package worth 50 billion euros ($55 billion). The bloc is expected to revisit the issue in January.

Difficulties in raising the funds in Washington and Brussels have raised fears in Kiev that Western supporters are “tired” of the protracted battle as fighting stalls on the front lines.

Zelensky emphasized that Kiev’s foreign policy will be active in January with numerous international activities.

“We are making every effort to strengthen Ukraine and ensure that everyone faces the coming year with confidence in terms of military assistance, macro-financial assistance and political support,” he said.