Six people were killed and four others injured after Ukrainian missile strikes hit Russia’s Belgorod region overnight, according to the region’s acting governor, Alexander Shuvaev.
A 14-year-old child was among those injured, Shuvaev said in a Telegram post on Monday. The reported strikes came amid a sharp escalation in long-range attacks between Russia and Ukraine, with both sides continuing to target locations away from the front lines.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, said Russian drone strikes killed two people in Ukraine’s Sumy region, which borders Russia and has frequently come under attack.
The latest exchange followed what Russian officials described as the “largest-scale” Ukrainian attack of the year. At least seven people were reportedly killed in that attack. Russian strikes on Ukraine also killed at least seven people and injured more than 39 others on Saturday night.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls roughly a fifth of Ukrainian territory.
In Belgorod, the latest strikes reportedly caused a building to catch fire and damaged a vehicle in the village of Koloskovo, in the Valuysky district near the Ukrainian border. Shuvaev said the injured teenager was taken to hospital, while two other injured people received medical attention.
A separate Ukrainian drone strike in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region also killed a woman, according to regional Governor Igor Babushkin. He said the attack targeted an industrial facility, although the facility itself was not damaged.
The violence also continued on the Ukrainian side of the border. In the Black Sea port city of Odesa, a Russian overnight attack damaged a civilian vessel and injured four people, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.
Moscow has increasingly targeted Ukraine’s ports and coastline, while Kyiv has stepped up its long-range drone campaign against targets deep inside Russia.
Ukraine has significantly increased its use of drones against Russian territory in recent weeks.
During Saturday night’s attacks, Ukraine launched about 822 drones towards Russia, according to Russian officials, who said approximately 600 were directed towards the Moscow region. The Moscow regional governor described the assault as “one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory”.
The attacks caused deaths and damage in several parts of Russia.
Five people were killed in the southwestern Rostov region, according to its governor. In Belgorod, officials reported that a woman was killed in an attack on a civilian bus, while an 83-year-old man was killed in a drone strike in the Moscow region.
A warehouse belonging to Russian online retailer Wildberries was also hit.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the company since July, accusing it of supporting Russia’s military logistics. Ukraine’s defence ministry said the latest strike meant that seven of the company’s 10 largest logistics centres had been “disabled”.
While Ukraine has expanded its attacks on Russian territory, Russia has also intensified its missile and drone strikes across Ukraine.
Ukrainian energy company Naftogaz said on Monday that Russian forces had attacked its facilities 13 times during the previous week.
During Saturday night’s Russian attacks, a man and a woman were killed after a private home in the Zaporizhzhia region was hit by a guided aerial bomb, according to Ukrainian officials. Five other people were reportedly killed in attacks elsewhere in the country.
Russia said its strikes on Kyiv were aimed at a FirePoint facility involved in producing components for Ukrainian Flamingo missiles and a factory manufacturing drone components.
The Russian attacks also damaged a book market in Kyiv’s Pochayna district, where burnt books were seen scattered across the ground.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 13 regions of Ukraine had come under attack during the week.
According to Zelensky, Russia launched more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles during the period.
The figures underline the scale of the aerial campaign being conducted by both countries as the war enters another increasingly intense phase.
The United Nations recently reported that civilian casualties in Ukraine rose sharply in July, with at least 437 civilians killed and 2,610 injured. The UN said the figures represented the highest monthly civilian death toll in Ukraine since May 2022.
Russia and Ukraine continue to accuse each other of attacking civilian areas, while both governments deny deliberately targeting civilians.
The latest strikes demonstrate how the conflict has increasingly expanded beyond traditional front-line fighting. Long-range drones and missiles are now regularly being used to hit military, industrial, energy and logistics targets deep inside both countries, while civilian areas are also suffering damage and casualties.
The escalation comes as Ukraine seeks to impose greater costs on Russia’s military and economic infrastructure, while Moscow continues its campaign of missile and drone attacks against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.
Recent attacks have also raised concerns beyond the two countries. A major Ukrainian strike on Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk earlier in August damaged naval assets and disrupted grain terminals, with fears over possible effects on global wheat supplies.
The latest exchange therefore points to an increasingly dangerous phase of the Russia-Ukraine war, with both sides expanding the range and intensity of their attacks while diplomatic efforts to end the conflict remain unresolved.
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