Putin breaks from bombing schools and hospitals to condemn ‘terrorism’ after Iran attack

Vladimir Putin condemned an attack in Iran after days of Russian bombing in Ukraine (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Vladimir Putin has condemned the ‘terrorist’ attacks in Iran – after his own forces have spent days blitzing homes, hospitals and schools in Ukraine.

The Russian president expressed condolences to Iran’s leadership following two blasts that went off in the Iranian city of Kerman today.

At least 103 people have been confirmed dead, while more than 200 were wounded in the attacks, which Iranian officials have described as terrorism

The blasts happened close to cemetery where a crowded ceremony was taking place to commemorate top commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone in 2020.

No one has yet claimed responsibility.

In a statement from the Kremlin today, Putin condemned ‘terrorism in all its forms’ and said the attack on peaceful people was ‘shocking in its cruelty and cynicism’.

His words come after days of heavy Russian strikes against Ukraine that have killed and injured scores of civilians.

Speaking after the first barrage last week, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian ‘terrorists’ had ‘used nearly every type of weapon in [their] arsenal’ and accused them of targeting a maternity hospital, school and homes.

Ambulances leave the site where two explosions in quick succession struck a crowd in Iran (Picture: Getty Images/AFP)

At least 39 people died in Kyiv and other towns and cities in one of the heaviest onslaughts of the nearly two-year war so far.

Ukraine responded with an air strike on the Russian city of Belgorod on the following day, which Moscow said killed 25 civilians.

Putin similarly called the attack ‘terrorism’ and said it would ‘not go unpunished’.

Yesterday his forces bombed Kyiv and Ukraine’s second largest city Kharkiv, killing at least five civilians and injuring 135, according to Ukraine’s Interior ministry.

The cities of Odesa, Lviv and Kharviv were also hit by Russian drones on Monday, causing at least one death and several injuries.

Civilians enter their destroyed apartment building to gather belongings after a massive missile attack that struck Kyiv on January 2 (Picture: Svet Jacqueline/ZUMA Press Wire)

Anatoliy, 55, cleans the rubbles in his house after Russian airstrikes in Dnipro in Ukraine on December 29 (Picture: Ozge Elif Kizil/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Kyiv had warned for weeks that Russia appeared to be stockpiling missiles for big attacks.

There is no end in sight to the war as next month’s second anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion approaches.

Russia depicts a Ukrainian counteroffensive launched in mid-2023 has been a failure, while front lines have changed little in recent months.

Ukraine relies on military and financial support from allies, but political wrangling in the U.S. and the European Union has delayed over $110 billion in aid.

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