A Russian official on Saturday blamed the United Kingdom and the United States, both members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), for Ukrainian airstrikes on the Russian provincial capital of Belgorod, calling it a "terror attack."
Moscow said that 14 people, including two children, have been killed and over 100 more are injured in Belgorod after Kyiv launched strikes on the region, which neighbors northern Ukraine.
"Today, the Kyiv regime attempted an indiscriminate combined strike on the city of Belgorod with two 'Olkha' missiles in a banned cluster configuration, as well as Czech-made Vampire rockets," the Russian defense ministry wrote in a Telegram post. "This crime will not go unpunished."
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian state news agency Tass that the U.K. incited the strikes that Ukraine carried out on Saturday "in coordination" with the U.S.
"Great Britain is behind the terror attack, as it, in coordination with the United States, is inciting the Kiev regime to terrorist actions as it understands that Ukraine's counteroffensive has failed," Zakharova alleged. "London, as the Ukrainian presidential office representatives have recently said, has banned the Kiev regime from holding talks with the Russia side, staking on a 'victory on the battlefield.'"
She added: "With not a single chance to improve the Ukrainian army's deplorable situation 'on the ground,' the Anglo-Saxons have taken on the tactic of terror attacks on civilians."
A spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Newsweek via email on Tuesday, "We are not going to provide a running commentary on each and every one of Russia's baseless conspiracy theories about the West. Save that they are, and remain, nonsense."
Zakharova also blamed other European countries for supplying Ukraine with weapons in the ongoing war.
"Responsibility for the terror attack rests on EU [European Union] states, which continue to supply weapons to Kiev's terrorists who are using cluster munitions against civilians," she said.
The EU and the U.S. have been the biggest contributors of military aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of the Eastern European nation in February 2022.
Russia has requested a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, which Zakharova said would focus on the strikes on Belgorod.
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in the U.K. reiterated the claims made by Moscow's foreign ministry on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday afternoon.
"MFA: British and American consultants were directly involved in organising the terrorist attack on residential areas in #Belgorod, regularly inciting the Ukrainian authorities to commit brutal crimes.
"The strike deliberately targeted places where civilians gather, particularly families with children. The Ukrainian criminals used cluster munitions to maximise the number of victims in their terrorist attack," the post alleged. "The countries of the #EU, which persistently and irresponsibly continue to supply the Ukrainian ruling clique with weapons, are also responsible for this."
The White House or the U.S. State Department have yet to respond to Russia's claims.
Newsweek reached out to Ukraine's foreign ministry and the White House via email. It also reached out to the Russian government via online form for comment.
Ukraine's attack on Belgorod comes after Russia on Friday launched its largest missile attack of the war so far.
Moscow launched 158 missiles and drones into Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Liviv. Ukrainian officials said that 39 people were killed and nearly 160 more were wounded.
A spokesperson for Ukraine's air force said, "We've never seen so many targets hit simultaneously." The air force added that it was able to intercept 114 missiles and drones launched by Russia.
President Joe Biden released a statement Friday, saying that the air attack was "a stark reminder to the world that, after nearly two years of this devastating war, Putin's objective remains unchanged."
"He must be stopped," Biden added, who also urged Congress to pass additional aid for the war-torn country.
Update 1/3/24, 9:20 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from the FCDO.
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