Shelling kills 14 in Russia's city of Belgorod, including 2 children, officials say

Shelling in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod killed 14 people, including two children, and wounded 108 others Saturday, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Russian officials accused Kyiv of carrying out the attack, which took place the day after an 18-hour aerial bombardment across Ukraine killed at least 39 civilians.

Images of Belgorod on social media showed burning cars and plumes of black smoke rising among damaged buildings as air raid sirens sounded. One strike hit close to a public ice rink in the very heart of the city, which lies 25 miles (40km) north of the Ukrainian border and 415 miles (670km) south of Moscow. While previous attacks have hit the city, they have rarely taken place in daylight and have claimed fewer lives. Speaking on social media Saturday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov described the consequences of the strike as the worst the city had faced since Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.