Ukrainian artillery fire, mortar shells, and drones reportedly attacked Russia’s southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine on Friday, just hours after two drones hit a Russian city in a region near the occupied Crimea Peninsula. Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Kremlin attacked a clinic in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing a 69-year-old bystander and wounded 23, including two children, according to Ukrainian authorities. The Karlivka area of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province is in danger of serious flooding after a Russian S-300 missile struck a dam there.
According to Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, several hours of gunfire resulted in damage to four homes, a business, a car, a gas pipeline, and a power line in the Belgorod village of Graivoron, located approximately seven kilometres (more than four miles) from the Ukrainian border. The village of Glotovo, located closer to the border, had a recreation centre, a shop, and an abandoned house damaged. According to Gladkov, there were no fatalities.
One of the most significant cross-border attacks from Ukraine since the war began 15 months ago occurred in the Belgorod region earlier this week. Little was known about the raid. Russia has pointed fingers at the Ukrainian military, but two Russian groups have claimed involvement in an effort to topple President Vladimir Putin. Two drone attacks were reported in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, which is located in the region of the same name that borders the Crimean peninsula. A moped-like noise was reportedly heard, followed by two explosions, according to reports from the area.
While structures were destroyed, critical services were not interrupted. In addition, Governor Veniamin Kondratyev of the Krasnodar area emphasised that no lives were lost in his Telegram message. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February of last year, and since then, Russia has regularly attacked border regions with Ukraine using drones. The attacks ramped up last month.
Two days earlier this month, drones struck a Krasnodar oil plant. On Thursday, the Ukrainian defence ministry released video purporting to show an unmanned drone boat assaulting the Russian surveillance ship Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea. The footage didn’t show the drone actually crashing into the boat. Following information from Russia’s Ministry of Defence on Wednesday, the Ukrainian government conducted a “unsuccessful” attack on the Ivan Khurs using three unmanned speedboats, but they were all destroyed before they could reach the ship. Moscow reportedly published film purporting to show the sinking of one of the unmanned vessels. According to Friday’s report from the Ukrainian president’s office, at least two civilians were murdered and three more were injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine over the previous 24 hours. AP
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