A few days after the bombardment of the Russian border region of Belgorod, which left more than 20 dead, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced further retaliatory attacks on neighbouring Ukraine. “Surely you have noticed that literally the next day such attacks were carried out,” he said on New Year’s Day at a meeting with injured Russian soldiers in a Moscow military hospital. “And more are being carried out today, and we will do so tomorrow as well.” In his first reaction to the bombardment of Belgorod last Saturday, Putin also spoke of an “act of terrorism” by the Ukrainian army. Howev…