Five people were killed in an attack on Russia’s Kursk after a deadly missile attack on Kiev.

Russia says five people have been killed in a Ukrainian attack in the western Kursk region.

Ukrainian officials earlier reported that Moscow had launched a fresh missile attack on Kiev, damaging a building that hosts several embassies.

The acting governor of the Kursk region in Russia said that in addition to the dead, nine people have been taken to hospital after the attack on the town of Rilsk.

A cultural center, a fitness complex, a school and homes were damaged in the strike at 15:30 local time (12:30 GMT) on Friday, Alexander Khanstein said.

Earlier, Russian authorities reported the death toll of six people, including a child, in Rylsk, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

But in an audio message on Telegram on Saturday morning, Khanstein gave the latest update, saying there had been five deaths.

“They had no children. [killed]” he said.

Ukrainian troops still hold parts of the Kursk region after launching a surprise cross-border operation in early August.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Russia’s attack on Kiev affected the diplomatic missions of Albania, Argentina, North Macedonia, Palestine, Portugal and Montenegro. It is unclear whether his residence in the Ukrainian capital was directly targeted.

The Ukrainian military said at least one person was killed and nine others wounded in the attack, which damaged several buildings in the city. It is not believed that any of the diplomats at the embassy were injured.

In a verified video filmed in the Pecherskyi district, Kiev’s second-oldest Roman Catholic church, St. Nicholas Cathedral. A nearby explosion shows windows shattering.

Ukraine’s military said Russia launched 65 drones and missiles overnight across the country, 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 the Russians as “beasts” as he watched a building burn in front of him. Surveyed the shell.

This video was widely shared on social media.

Another resident, Oksana, sent the BBC pictures of her damaged apartment, which showed windows blown out and glass and brickwork scattered on the floor.

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

“My balcony was blown off, half of my walls were gone. My neighbor is so shocked she can’t even speak. I don’t have words for the people who did this.”

A local journalist at the scene told the BBC that one of the nearby buildings had been raided by the Ukrainian security service, the SBU. was, and is likely to have been the target of attacks, although much of the damage seen by the BBC was affected. residential buildings.

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

But there is also speculation in Kiev that Friday’s attack could be linked to the killing of one. Russian General, Lieutenant General Igor KirillovTuesday in Moscow.

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

There is concern in Ukraine that Russia may use The so-called Orshank Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile To kill Kiev. Moscow tested a missile over the central city of Dnipro earlier this month.

Earlier on Friday morning, Ukrainian authorities issued an aerial alert linked to a possible launch of an Oryshank missile, and urged people in Kiev to take shelter immediately. It turned out to be a false alarm.