In Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, drone attacks have killed at least two people and injured seven more in the past 24 hours, according to Russian authorities.
Governor Aleksandr Shuvaev said on social media that two civilians died in what he described as precision attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces in the Krasnoyarsk and Shebekinski districts. He said seven other civilians were injured in attacks across the Belgorod, Valuiski, Krasnoyarsk and Yakovlevski districts, and that four of them remain in hospital.
Another death was reported on Friday in the city of Shebekino, where a drone hit a moving car on the road and killed the driver, according to local officials. In the village of Otradnoye, also in Belgorod region, another man needed urgent medical help after suffering multiple shrapnel wounds to his back when a drone detonated.
Local authorities have urged residents in border municipalities to take precautions as drones continue to fly over the province’s airspace. For background on the wider conflict, see our news coverage and our latest updates.
The attacks come after recent Russian bombardments of several areas in Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said at least six people died in the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk provinces, while Mykola Kalashnik, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said on social media that at least four people died in a drone attack on a food factory producing baby food in Brovary.
The war began in February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.