Russia Says Ukraine Attacks Belgorod Region Again with Missiles and Drones 

This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)
This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)
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Russia Says Ukraine Attacks Belgorod Region Again with Missiles and Drones 

This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)
This handout picture posted on January 2, 2024 on the official Telegram account of Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod region, shows aftermath of a missile strike on the region. (Photo by Handout / TELEGRAM / @VVGLADKOV / AFP)

Ukraine launched 12 missiles and several drones in the early hours of Wednesday on Russia's southern region of Belgorod, Russia's defense ministry and local authorities said.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said the situation "continues to remain tense" in Belgorod, where Russia says 25 civilians including five children were killed in Ukrainian attacks on Saturday.

There was no word of any casualties from the latest attacks. Gladkov said the extent of damage would be assessed throughout the day.

Ukraine's escalation of attacks on Belgorod over the New Year period has come as Russia launched some of its most intense strikes on Ukraine since the war began almost two years ago. Kyiv said on Tuesday that Russia had launched well over 300 attack drones and missiles of various kinds at cities across Ukraine since Friday.

Belgorod, like other Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, has seen frequent low-level attacks since the start of the war, but Saturday's was by far the deadliest. President Vladimir Putin said it would "not go unpunished".

One person was killed and seven more wounded in the region on Tuesday, Russian authorities said.

In Wednesday's attacks, Russia's defense ministry said Ukraine fired six Tochka-U ballistic missiles and six guided missiles launched from a Vilkha heavy multiple rocket launcher.

Gladkov said Ukraine also launched several drones on the region and the city of Belgorod, which is the administrative center of the region.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.



Macron Speeds up Rafale Warplane Orders as France Invests in Nuclear Deterrence

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Macron Speeds up Rafale Warplane Orders as France Invests in Nuclear Deterrence

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech in front of a Dassault Rafale (R) and A Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft during his visit of the French Air and Space Force (Armee de l'air et de l'espace) Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur Airbase in Saint-Sauveur, north-eastern France on March 18, 2025. (AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron said France would order additional Rafale warplanes in the coming years and invest nearly 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) into one of its air bases to equip its squadrons with the latest nuclear missile technology.

Jolted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump's more confrontational stance towards traditional Western allies, European countries are hiking defense spending and seeking to reduce dependence on the United States.

Macron, who has initiated a doubling of the French defense budget over the course of his two mandates, has recently set an even higher target, saying the country should increase defense spending to 3-3.5% of economic output from the current 2%.

He has also offered to extend the protection of France's nuclear weapons, the so-called nuclear umbrella, to other European countries.

"We haven't waited for 2022 or the turning point we're seeing right now to discover that the world we live in is ever more dangerous, ever more uncertain, and that it implies to innovate, to bulk up and to become more autonomous," he said.

"I will announce in the coming weeks new investments to go further than what was done over the past seven years," he told soldiers at one of the country's historical air bases in Luxeuil, eastern France.

Macron said he had decided to turn the base, famed in military circles as the home of American volunteer pilots during World War One, into one of its most advanced bases in its nuclear deterrence program.

The base will host the latest Rafale S5 fighter jets, which will carry France's next-generation ASN4G hypersonic nuclear-armed cruise missiles, which are intended to be operational from 2035 onwards, French officials said.

The French air force will also receive additional Dassault-made Rafale warplanes, in part to replace the Mirage jets France has transferred to Ukraine, Macron said.

"We are going to increase and accelerate our orders for Rafales," he said.

French officials said the 1.5 billion euros were part of the already approved multi-year military spending plan. It remained unclear how France would finance a massive hike in military spending at a time it is trying to reduce its budget deficit.

Macron's speech comes on the day the German parliament approved a massive increase in military spending.