Eight injured in Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod, Russia

MOSCOW: Eight people were injured in overnight Ukrainian attacks in and around the western Russian city of Belgorod, officials and the army said on Thursday.

Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said several apartment blocks and houses were damaged.

“The city of Belgorod and the Belgorod district were attacked from the air by the Ukrainian armed forces. There were direct attacks on homes and cars,” Gladkow said on the messaging app Telegram.

“According to preliminary information, eight people were injured: seven adults and one child.”

Five people with shrapnel wounds, including an 11-year-old girl with a foot injury, were taken to hospital, while the other three victims were treated at the scene, he added.

In the city of Belgorod, 19 residential buildings, one private house and 37 vehicles were damaged, Gladkov said.

In nearby Dubovoe, four houses and three cars were damaged, he added.

Belgorod is close to the border and is a frequent target of Ukrainian drone strikes, including one on Monday that killed six people and injured 35.

Ukraine has recently increased its attacks on Russian territory, particularly targeting energy sites.

The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Belgorod was attacked overnight by several Ukrainian RM-70 Vampire multiple rocket launchers, adding that 15 missiles and one drone were shot down.

It said two more drones were shot down in the Bryansk region, which also borders Ukraine, and three more in Kursk.

The governors of those two regions said there were no casualties or damage.

The Russian army said a Ukrainian drone strike hit a fuel depot overnight in the village of Yurovka in the Krasnodar region near the Crimean peninsula, a Ukrainian region annexed by Moscow in 2014.

“About six drones were destroyed, but many fell on the complex. As a result, a fire broke out and several reservoirs were damaged,” said the chief of staff of the Krasnodar Territory.