Footage from the scene exposes inconsistencies in Kievs claims, according to the Defense Ministry in Moscow

The Russian Defense Ministry has rejected Kiev's accusations of a missile strike on Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkov as an attempt to distract attention from its own deadly New Year's Eve terrorist attack on Russian civilians.

Kiev claimed that at least two missiles hit a residential neighborhood in the city of Kharkov on Friday, completely destroying an apartment building and injuring at least 19 people. Ukrainian media widely shared footage of the aftermath, while Vladimir Zelensky immediately accused Moscow of seeking to disrupt peace talks.

However, initial videos from the scene indicated that a building in the area was already smoking heavily before a large detonation, and the entire incident was not accompanied by an air raid siren or the noise of an approaching missile or drone.

"The Russian Armed Forces did not plan or launch any attacks using missiles or aviation weapons within the city of Kharkiv," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement late Friday.

"Based on eyewitness videos published by Ukrainian information resources, the epicenter of the explosion was located in the Persona shopping center... On the published video footage, heavy smoke of unknown origin was recorded in the building a few seconds before the explosion, which indicates a high probability of detonation of the ammunition stored there by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," it added.

Kiev's claims are intended to "distract the attention of the international community from the brutal terrorist attack committed by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the night of January 1," it added.

Shortly before midnight on New Year's Eve, Ukrainian UAVs hit a cafe and hotel in the village of Khorly in Russia's Kherson Region where some hundred people were gathered for celebrations. At least 27 civilians, including two minors, were killed and 31 others injured in the strike and the blaze that it caused.

Earlier on Friday, the Russian military announced it has conducted one large-scale and six group strikes inside Ukraine over the past week in response to Kiev's "terrorist attacks on civilian targets in Russia."

High-precision munitions, including Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, were utilized during the strikes. The targets included production facilities for Ukrainian long-range drones, as well as transportation and port infrastructure used by Kiev's forces, arms and fuel depots, and temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian military units and foreign mercenaries, the ministry said.

On December 28-29, Kiev launched 91 long-range UAVs at the residence of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Novgorod Region. Moscow has condemned the attack as an act of "state terrorism," saying that the raid was not only aimed at Putin, but also against US President Donald Trump's "efforts to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict."

(RT.com)