Russia's Zakharova condemns Ukrainian strikes on Russian civilians

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has sharply condemned recent Ukrainian strikes against targets in Russia, state agency TASS reported on Saturday.

"Kiev is suffering a military defeat and is unable to turn the tide of the fighting, so it is taking out its rage on the civilian population," she was quoted as saying. She said both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and "his Western puppet masters" would "pay dearly for every crime."

Zakharova, who is known for her sharp rhetoric, focused in particular on recent Ukrainian strikes in Kirov in Russia and in the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhya region in Ukraine.

Ukrainian combat drones struck a defence company in Kirov earlier in the week. Governor Alexander Sokolov said there had been a missile strike on a factory in the city, which lies almost 800 kilometres north-east of Moscow. The strikes killed six people and wounded 26, he said later.

Ukrainian drone strikes killed at least 12 people in the Russian-occupied part of the southern Ukrainian Zaporizhzhya region, according to occupation authorities. A further 19 people were wounded, said Yevgeny Balitsky, the Moscow-installed head of administration.

The overnight strike hit a tourist facility in the settlement of Kyrylivka, according to that account.

The claims cannot be independently verified.

Zakharova accused Ukraine of "cold-bloodedly" attacking the Russian civilian population and thereby showing the world its "bestial Nazi grin."

Russia's armed forces have been waging a devastating war against Ukraine for more than four years. In recent times, the Russian military has increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure, causing heavy casualties among the Ukrainian population.