Russian authorities reported that Ukrainian artillery, mortar rounds, and drones attacked the southern Belgorod region of Russia on Friday, just hours after two drones attacked a Russian city close to the Crimean Peninsula.
Meanwhile, the soldiers of the Kremlin attacked a clinic in Dnipro, central Ukraine, killing a 69-year-old bystander and injuring 23 others, including two children, according to Ukrainian officials. Furthermore, a Russian S-300 missile struck a dam in the Karlivka region of the eastern Ukrainian province of Donetsk, posing a significant flood risk to nearby settlements.
The Belgorod town of Graivoron, about seven kilometers (more than four miles) from the Ukrainian border, was under fire for several hours, with four houses, a store, a car, a gas pipeline and a power line damaged, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov of Russian authorities reported.
Closer to the border, a recreation center, a shop and an uninhabited house sustained damage in the village of Glotovo. There were no casualties, according to Gladkov. Earlier this week, the Belgorod region was the target of one of the most serious cross-border attacks from Ukraine since the war began 15 months ago. Details of the raid were murky. While Russia attributed the blame to the Ukrainian armed forces, two Russian groups claimed responsibility, stating their objective was to overthrow Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Drones Strikes
Officials in Russia’s southern city of Krasnodar, in the region of the same name bordering Crimea, said that two drones struck there. Witnesses told local media they heard something like the sound of a moped and then two explosions. “There is damage to buildings, but essential infrastructure was not damaged. And most importantly, there were no casualties,” Krasnodar regional Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on Telegram.
Krasnodar Mayor Yevgeny Naumov said a residential building and an office building were damaged, but there were no casualties. Drone attacks against Russian regions on the border with Ukraine have been a regular occurrence since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, with attacks stepping up last month.
In another apparent incident of Kyiv’s forces harassing Russia, Ukraine’s defense ministry on Thursday published footage that appeared to show an unmanned drone boat attacking Russia’s Ivan Khurs reconnaissance ship in the Black Sea.
The video didn’t show the drone hitting the ship. The video followed reports by Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Wednesday that Ukraine had launched an “unsuccessful” attack on the Ivan Khurs using three unmanned speedboats, with all three boats attacked and destroyed prior to reaching the ship. Moscow released footage allegedly showing the destruction of one of the uncrewed boats.
According to the Ukrainian president’s office, Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours resulted in the deaths of at least two civilians and injuries to three others.
