Death toll from Ukrainian drone attack on Belgorod, Russia rises to 8

The death toll from a Ukrainian drone attack in the western Russian region of Belgorod earlier this week has risen to eight people, according to Russian authorities said Wednesday.

Six people were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in Russia in recent times killed Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Monday as drones struck two vans and a car near the village of Berezovka, about seven kilometers from the Ukrainian border.

The agricultural company Agro-Belogorye before said Seven of its workers were killed and 32 others injured in the strike.

“Another civilian died in the drone strike in Borisovsky district on May 6,” Gladkov said on Telegram, adding that a man died in hospital after being “seriously injured.” He did not say whether the man was an Agro-Belogorye employee.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denounced Monday’s drone attack was classified as a “terrorist attack” and claimed that Ukrainian drones attacked the same area “after the arrival of medics, police, rescuers and journalists.”

Gladkow said Wednesday that 33 of the victims, including three children, remained hospitalized.

Agro-Belogorye said Earlier on Wednesday, funerals were held for the seven confirmed killed workers, including four women and three men.

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, Belgorod has repeatedly been the target of what Russian officials describe as indiscriminate Ukrainian attacks on civilians.

Monday’s drone attack was the deadliest in the Belgorod region since the New Year’s Eve shelling of the city of Belgorod that killed at least 21 people and injured 110 others.