Kremlin General accuses UK spies of launching New Year 'terror attack' that killed 27

At least 27 people are confirmed to have died in the incident in Khorly (Image: East2West)

A Russian general has accused Britain of being behind a strike on "civilians" at a New Year party in Putin-occupied Kherson region.

The death toll rose from 24 to to 27 including "two children" at a cafe and hotel in resort Khorly, but Ukraine has adamantly denied being behind the reported drone strike.

The massacre - in which at least one occupation police chief was killed - is being used by Moscow as a pretext for an expected massive imminent attack on Ukraine.

Russia is also seizing on a hotly disrupted "Ukrainian drone strike on a Putin palace" as a reason to disrupt Donald Trump-led peace talks, and escalate attacks on Kyiv.

The frenzy deepened today as Kremlin commander Maj-Gen Apti Alaudinov directly blamed Britain and unnamed European states for the Khorly carnage which Moscow has labelled a "terrorist attack".

He gave no evidence for the accusation which came as Russia thrashes around to find reasons to continue the war rather than engage in peace moves.

"The strike carried out against civilians celebrating the New Year in the Kherson region once again proves that the Ukrainian side is doing everything possible to ensure that there will be no peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine," alleged Alaudinov.

"It turns out that they tell Trump that they are ready to sign a peace agreement, while at the same time forcing the Russian side into taking certain retaliatory actions that would already make such an agreement impossible.

Major General Apti Alaudinov (Image: East2West)

"I believe that behind all these actions stand representatives of foreign intelligence services, first and foremost those of England and European states, which are very uninterested in a peace agreement being signed between Russia and Ukraine."

He alleged: "The leadership of Ukraine are puppets controlled from the outside.

"And, of course, the main parties interested in further escalation of hostilities on Ukrainian territory, and in these actions not being stopped, are Ukraine's foreign masters, above all England."

But Ukraine denied being behind the strike on the hotel and cafe - implying it was a "false flag" operation by Russia.

"Russian propagandists and the military-political leadership of the Russian Federation have repeatedly resorted to disinformation and fake statements, in particular with the aim of influencing Ukraine's international partners and the course of peace negotiations," said spokesperson of the Ukrainian General Staff, Dmytro Lykhoviy.

He insisted that Ukraine did not strike at civilians.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law and strike exclusively at the enemy's military targets, objects of the Russian Federation's fuel and energy complex, and other legitimate targets, with the aim of reducing the military potential of the aggressor country," he said.

Regional puppet leader Vladimir Saldo claimed "the bodies of the dead were almost completely burned, like in a nuclear strike".

The death toll rose from 24 to to 27 including “two children” at a cafe and hotel (Image: East2West)

So far one of those "burned alive" in the Khorly strike has been identified as Sergei Bohan, 55, head of the police in occupied Kalanchak, so not a civilian.

The Russian occupation regime in Kherson today withdrew access to names of those killed, claiming a website had been hacked by the West.

Russia also sought to deny the alleged drone strike on Putin's palace was a false flagged operation with the Russian GRU military intelligence chief Admiral Igor Kostyukov handing "evidence" to a US military attache in Moscow.

The spy chief is seen on a GRU video passing a drone "controller" to the American diplomat.

It was unclear how it could be proved that what seemed to be a Chinese part could be provided to have been from a downed Ukrainian drone.

A CIA analysis had already concluded Kyiv did not seek to target Putin personally or his palace at Valdai.

Nevertheless, Kostyukov said: "The navigation systems of some of these unmanned aerial vehicles are well preserved.

"They are technically sound.

"The decryption of the memory content of the navigation controllers has unequivocally confirmed the target of the attack was....[Putin's] residence in the Novgorod region.

"We would like to hand over to you the controller and a description of this controller prepared by our specialists.

"We believe that this step will resolve all questions and contribute to establishing the truth."

In overnight strikes, Ukraine targeted two oil refineries - Novokuybyshevsk and Kuibyshevsk - in Samara region.

And all four Moscow airports Domodedovo, Vnukovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky suffered closures as drones targeted the region.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region, two people were injured as a result of a Russian attack.

Dozens of people were hospitalised in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region after nine separate Russian strikes.