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The United Nations Security Council on Sunday unanimously condemned the Syrian government for its role in the massacre of at least 108 people in Houla over the weekend, even as Syria blamed others for the killing.

The United Nations action was the strongest yet allowed by Russia, a permanent Security Council member who has blocked many attempts to criticize the government of President Bashar al-Assad, its close ally.

“We unequivocally deny the responsibility of government forces for the massacre,” Jihad Makdissi, the spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference in Damascus, the capital. He reiterated the standard government line that the deaths were caused by a terrorist attack, and he said he regretted that the United Nations and other governments seemed to have accepted the opposition’s version of events.

In some of the worst carnage since the uprising began 15 months ago, Syrian tanks and artillery pounded Houla, a rebel-controlled village near Homs, a center of the resistance, during the day, opposition groups said, with soldiers and pro-government fighters storming the village and killing families in their homes late at night. Included in the death toll, which rose Sunday afternoon, were at least 32 children.

At a United Nations Security Council meeting, Russia initially blocked a collective statement condemning the Syrian government, diplomats said Sunday, and demanded a closed briefing from Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the United Nations observer mission, on assigning blame.

Four council members — the United States, Germany, France and Britain — had prepared a draft statement condemning the Syrian military for battering civilian neighborhoods with tank shells, using language that echoed two previous United Nations statements. The secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon issued a joint statement with Kofi Annan, his envoy. Mr. Annan is scheduled to be in the Syrian capital for talks on Monday.