At least one person was killed and another seriously wounded in a rare midday Ukrainian drone strike on southwestern Russia’s Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine, authorities said Friday.
“The worst has happened — a civilian was killed by a drone strike in the village of Dobrino in the Rakityansky district,” Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
Dobrino is located less than 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) east of Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region.
A second person was hospitalized with serious injuries, while a third was wounded in the village of Lobkovka, further southeast near the border with Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, Gladkov said.
Ukrainian drones also caused property damage and fires in at least six other districts along the Russian-Ukrainian border, he added. Images posted by the governor showed burned-out vehicles in a parking lot, with officials still assessing the extent of the destruction.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its air defense systems shot down two drones over the Belgorod and neighboring Kursk regions on Friday afternoon.
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