MOSCOW (Reuters) – Six people, including a child, were killed on Friday in a Ukrainian missile attack on the town of Rylsk in Russia's Kursk region, the acting governor, Alexander Khinshtein, said.
Ten injured people, including a 13-year-old, were taken to hospital with minor injuries, Khinshtein wrote in Telegram.
“What happened today is a big tragedy for all of us,” he said. “We grieve with the families of the victims, no one will be left without support.
Those responsible will get “the compensation they deserve”, he said.
Russia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, later told a session of the Security Council that Moscow would be quick to respond to “the mysterious move of the Kyiv regime”.
“As you well understand, our response to this crime against peaceful Russian citizens will not take long,” he told the session.
Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the incident.
Khinshtein said Ukraine fired US-supplied HIMARS rockets, damaging several buildings including a school, recreation center and private residences in Rylsk, about 26 kilometers from the border of Ukraine's Sumy region.
An earlier unconfirmed report by the Mash Telegram channel, which is close to Russian law enforcement, put the death toll at seven.
The channel published an unverified video showing damaged buildings and new cars on a city street.
Khinshtein, who posted later on Telegram, said that the attack also disrupted the heating and gas networks and that work is continuing to restore supplies to more than 80 residential areas.
Ukrainian troops still hold part of the Kursk region after breaking out across the border in a surprise attack on August 6. Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual conference on Thursday that they would be withdrawn, but declined to set a date for when this would happen. it happened.
Khinshtein, who served as a State Duma deputy until he was appointed acting governor of Kursk by Putin earlier this month, accused Kyiv of deliberately targeting people in the protests.
Both Ukraine and Russia often accuse the other of targeting civilians, and both deny it.
Tensions between the warring sides have escalated since Tuesday, when a Russian general, Igor Kirillov, was killed in a bomb attack in Moscow. Ukraine's intelligence service SBU claimed responsibility for the killing.