**The western border city of Belgorod was attacked by Ukraine on the 30th, and the death toll has now climbed to 20. Moscow authorities vowed to retaliate, and immediately launched a large-scale attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, with ballistic missiles and suicide drones on the 31st, which is known to have injured at least 26 people, including a British journalist.
Ukrainian Pravda reported that Kharkiv was hit by six waves of Russian airstrikes, and the local police chief Volodymyr Tymoshko confirmed that the Russian army launched an Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile, hitting the five-star Palace Hotel in the center of Kharkiv and a residential area, and 26 people are known to be injured, including 2 minors and a British journalist.
It is understood that the Kharkiv Palace Hotel opened on December 15, 2011 during the European Cup football match, with 171 rooms, 3 restaurants and conference halls.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov (Ihor Terekhov) posted on the social platform Telegram that in addition to missiles, several Iranian-made Witness (Shahed) drones attacked Kharkiv overnight, and several residential buildings in the city center *** relevant departments have launched rescue efforts at the scene and are sorting out whether to cause further **.
The Iskander m ballistic missile, called the 9M723, which can carry conventional and tactical nuclear warheads, was launched in March this year to send a nuclear intimidation message to Western countries, handed over a batch of Iskander M to the Belarusian armed forces, and carried out a series of training in missile operation.
According to information published by the Russian side, the Iskander M flies at supersonic speeds at 2,100 to 2,600 meters per second (Mach 6 to 7) and at an altitude of 50 kilometers. The missile weighs 4615 kg, has a warhead of 710 to 800 kg, and although the range is only 500 km, it has the ability to break through the interception system.