Deadly Drone Strikes Hit Russia’s Belgorod Border Region
BELGOROD- Ukrainian drone attacks killed three people and injured 19 others in Russia’s Belgorod region on Tuesday, Russian authorities said, including in an attack on a bus near the Ukrainian border that Moscow condemned as a deliberate strike on civilians.
Regional officials said two people were killed when a drone struck a business in a village close to the border with Ukraine. A separate drone attack in a town outside the regional capital of Belgorod killed another person, according to local authorities.
The deadliest incident occurred in the border town of Shebekino, where a bus came under attack, leaving 19 people injured. Regional authorities said all but one of the wounded were taken to hospital for treatment.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, accusing Ukraine of carrying out repeated strikes against public transport in Russian border regions. Moscow has alleged that Ukrainian forces have systematically targeted buses in several parts of Russia during the conflict.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the latest attack demonstrated what she described as Ukraine’s continued targeting of public transport. She said the strikes reflected retaliation against ordinary civilians as Russia claimed Ukraine was suffering setbacks on the battlefield.
Russian-installed authorities in the occupied areas of Ukraine’s Donetsk region also reported a separate drone strike on a bus on Tuesday, saying five people were injured. The claims could not be independently verified.
Russian officials additionally referred to an attack last month on a bus transporting Belarusian children to a holiday destination, which they said killed one woman and injured six children. Moscow likewise blamed Ukraine for that incident.
Ukraine’s military rejected the accusations, describing them as false.
Belgorod, which borders northeastern Ukraine, has been repeatedly affected by cross-border attacks since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both sides have intensified their use of drones during the conflict, with strikes increasingly reaching areas beyond the immediate front lines.
The latest attacks come amid continuing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, with drone warfare remaining a prominent feature of the conflict as both countries seek to disrupt military and logistical operations while accusing each other of endangering civilians.
