UKRAINIAN forces struck civilian targets in the Russian city of Belgorod today, killing at least 15 people.

The deadly attack by Ukraine comes a day after Sergei Shoigu was promoted to secretary of Russia’s security council. 

Russia’s Emergency Ministry said that 15 people were killed when a residential building in Belgorod collapsed after being struck by fragments of a Ukrainian missile shot down by Russia.

Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that four more civilians had been killed on Sunday in separate attacks by Kiev, with 27 people injured.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Russian-based journalist Steve Sweeney, who is on the scene in Belgorod, told the Morning Star that the attack targeted “a residential area, not a military base. Targeting civilians is a war crime.”

Mr Sweeney added: “Belgorod has seen an intensification of attacks in recent months, the deadliest being a strike on December 30 killing at least 25 people.”

Russia’s Defence Ministry said at least 12 missiles were involved in the Belgorod strikes, which it called a “terrorist attack on residential areas.”

On Sunday President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing Mr Shoigu as secretary of Russia’s influential security council, replacing him with Andrei Belousov, the Kremlin said. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin had decided to give the defence minister role to Mr Belousov, a civilian, because the ministry should be “open to innovation and cutting-edge ideas.”

He also said the increasing defence budget “must fit into the country’s wider economy,” and Mr Belousov, who until recently served as the first deputy prime minister, is the right fit for the job.

Mr Lavrov has been nominated to serve for another term as foreign minister, a post he has held for two decades.