A Ukrainian drone strike has killed three people in the Russian border region of Belgorod, its governor said Wednesday.
"Three civilians have been killed," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said in a social media post. "The Ukrainian forces launched an explosive device through a drone when people were on the street."
He later identified two of the victims as “refugees” from neighboring occupied Ukrainian regions and the third as an employee of a resort where the attack took place.
Footage shared on the Telegram messaging app showed a building with blown-out windows in at least one ground-floor balcony and Gladkov interacting with its residents.
Gladkov said it was the second drone strike on the Belgorod region village of Lavy in the past 12 hours.
At least 12 other Belgorod region towns and villages have come under drone and artillery strikes in the past 24 hours, the governor said.
Kyiv has not confirmed responsibility for the cross-border drone strikes, which have intensified in the months since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine 18 months ago.
Russia’s Belgorod region has the highest share of civilian losses from cross-border drone and shell attacks, according to a tally by the independent news website 7x7.
Overall, more than 80 civilians have been killed in Russia’s Belgorod, Krasnodar, Bryansk and Kursk regions since the February 2022 invasion.
Gladkov and his Kursk region colleague Roman Starovoit last year announced the formation of territorial self-defense units in response to regular attacks.
AFP contributed reporting.
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