MOSCOW, January 3. /TASS/. The remarks of Peter Stano, spokesperson for the European External Action Service, regarding the Belgorod incident about Kiev’s right to defense prove that the West has "legitimized lawlessness", Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS.

"Western countries have legitimized lawlessness and invented a name for this - ‘the rules-based international order’," she said.

On December 30, the Ukrainian armed forces carried out a shelling attack on downtown Belgorod, using two rockets with cluster munitions and Czech-made MLRS shells. According to the latest statistics, 25 people were killed, including five children, and over 100 more were wounded, while dozens of residential buildings and civilian facilities were damaged. On December 31, the Russian Defense Ministry informed that in response to a shelling attack on Belgorod, Ukraine’s military targets were hit, including in Kharkov, which caused considerable losses to the Ukrainian military.