MOSCOW, Jan 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The Kremlin said on Tuesday the Russian military would do everything in its power to tackle an increase in Ukrainian shelling of the border city of Belgorod.

The city has suffered an uptick in fatal shelling attacks in recent weeks that prompted city officials to evacuate hundreds and extend a closure of schools.

"Of course, our military will continue to do everything in order to minimise the danger at first and then eliminate it entirely," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He accused the Ukrainian military of firing on civilian targets in the centre of the urban hub of some 340,000 people with weapons supplied by European countries.

The Kremlin has tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy on the home front, but the recent strikes on Belgorod have brought the Ukraine conflict closer to home for Russians.

The head of the region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced Tuesday morning that three people in the region had been injured by debris from downed Ukrainian weapons.

Separately, Ukrainian authorities said the death toll from a Russian strike in Ukraine one day earlier grew to three.

"Unfortunately, as a result of rescue operations, one more fatality was found -- a man born in 1955. Sincere condolences to the family," Khmelnytskyi mayor Oleksandr Symchyshyn said on social media.

The attacks in the western region came as part of a country-wide barrage that left at least five people dead and dozens more injured.