Kiev has ramped up drone strikes on civilian targets amid setbacks on the front lines
Seven civilians were injured in a series of Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Belgorod Region, Russia, local officials report. The strikes impacted a number of locations, including the regional capital and a highway, causing damage to homes and commercial properties.
In one village, a man suffered shrapnel wounds after a drone detonated, the emergency headquarters said on Sunday. Four other men were seriously injured when a drone struck a passenger vehicle.
Another drone attack targeted an infrastructure facility in the regional capital, injuring two men – one suffered shrapnel wounds to the neck, and the other sustained multiple injuries to his face, chest, shoulder, and legs. The assault also damaged technological equipment at the site.
The strikes caused widespread damage across the region, where homes and vehicles were hit.
The attacks come as civilian casualties mount in Russian regions bordering Ukraine. Also on Sunday, Leonid Pasechnik, the governor of Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), reported three fatalities and three injuries in the region. A woman was killed in Severodonetsk, a man died in a strike in the Troitsky district, and another driver died when his vehicle was hit near a village.
Moscow has accused Kiev of intentionally targeting civilian infrastructure and residential areas with long-range drones to make up for setbacks on the battlefield, where Russian forces continue to advance.
Kiev also continues to target Russian oil infrastructure despite demands by US President Donald Trump to end the attacks, which he says are affecting global energy prices.
Ukrainian forces launched a major drone attack on St. Petersburg on Sunday, killing one person, injuring five others, and causing a fire at a local oil terminal. Twelve apartment blocks and two private homes sustained damage during the raid, which local Governor Aleksandr Beglov called an attack by “the Ukrainian Nazis.” The oil terminal is the largest facility of its kind in the Baltic region, handling 125 million tons of liquefied product per year.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the drone strike on St. Petersburg “final manifestations of agony” from Ukraine, adding that “the Kiev regime is fighting back but cannot alter the course of history.” He added that Russia has been conducting “systematic, massive strikes” that “yield results.”
