At least four people including two paramedics were injured in drone attacks on the Belgorod region town of Shebekinio, authorities said early Thursday.
Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a female paramedic suffered injuries to one of her legs and arms. A male paramedic received a concussion and shrapnel wounds on his back due to an explosion.
Both paramedics and the two other injured civilians were taken to a hospital in the Belgorod region, the governor said. An apartment building briefly caught fire following the attack, he added.
Russia’s military said it destroyed one Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region overnight and a second one on Thursday morning.
The Belgorod region declared a regionwide state of emergency on Wednesday amid intensifying cross-border attacks following Ukraine’s surprise offensive into the neighboring Kursk region.
A federal-level state of emergency was later declared on Thursday morning, unlocking federal emergency funds for residents affected by shelling attacks and the border incursion.
On Thursday, acting Kursk region Governor Alexei Smirnov ordered a mandatory evacuation of the Glushkovsky district, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy region and has a population of around 20,000 people.
Some 121,000 people have fled parts of the Kursk since the Ukrainian forces stormed across the border on Aug. 6. At least 12 people have been killed in the clashes so far, and 121 others have been injured.
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