Ukrainian strikes kill six in Russia, officials say

Six people have been killed and four injured in Ukrainian missile strikes on Russia’s Belgorod region overnight, its acting governor has said.

A 14-year-old child was among those injured, Alexander Shuvaev wrote on Telegram on Monday.

Ukraine officials said two people were killed in Russian drone strikes overnight on the Sumy region, close to the border with Russia, which has been under frequent attack.

The strikes come a night after what Russian officials called the “largest-scale” attack launched by Ukraine this year, in which at least seven people were killed. Russian attacks on Ukraine also killed at least seven people and injured more than 39 on Saturday night.

Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and currently controls approximately a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

The latest Ukrainian strikes burned a building and damaged a car in the village of Koloskovo in the Valuysky district, which is close to Russia’s border with Ukraine, Shuvaev said.

The injured child was sent to hospital while two others received medical assistance, he added.

Meanwhile, a woman was killed after a drone strike hit a home in Russia’s southern Astrakhan region, the local governor said on Monday.

Igor Babushkin wrote on Telegram that the Ukrainian strike targeted an industrial facility but that it had not been damaged.

In Ukraine, an overnight attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa damaged a civilian vessel and injured four people, according to the regional head Oleh Kiper.

Moscow has sought to put off foreign companies from trading with Ukraine by targeting its ports and coastline.

Kyiv has stepped up drone strikes deep inside Russia during the past few weeks.

On Saturday night, Ukraine fired some 822 drones towards Russia, with 600 aiming for Moscow, according to its regional governor, who said the Russian capital suffered “one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory”.