Six killed in Ukrainian strike on Russia's Belgorod region as both sides escalate attacks
A Ukrainian missile strike killed six people and wounded a child among others in Russia's Belgorod region, as Moscow and Kyiv sharply intensify cross-border attacks amid a stalled frontline and frozen peace talks.
Six people were killed and four others, including a child, were wounded in a Ukrainian missile strike on the village of Koloskovo in Russia's Belgorod region, acting regional governor Alexander Shuvaev said Monday. Koloskovo lies about 15 kilometres from the border with Ukraine. Shuvaev said the strike set a structure ablaze and damaged a vehicle.
The attack came a day after Russia and Ukraine exchanged missile and drone strikes deep inside each other's territory, killing 19 people combined. With frontline fighting largely stalled and negotiations stalled, both countries have sharply ramped up long-range missile attacks in recent weeks, driving civilian casualties to their highest levels since the war's early months in 2022.
Strikes on Odesa region port
Ukrainian officials said Monday that Russian forces struck port infrastructure overnight in the Izmail district of the southern Odesa region, though resulting fires were extinguished. Russia's defence ministry said it hit military-related targets at the port, including a berthing terminal used to unload vessels carrying military cargo, hangars storing Western military equipment, and naval drone depots. These claims could not be independently verified. Izmail, near the Romanian border, hosts Ukraine's largest port on the Danube River.
In a separate strike, Russia said it hit a patrol boat and fuel storage facilities in Odesa itself. The regional governor said a civilian vessel flying Togo's flag was damaged and four people were injured.
Rising civilian toll
Russia has carried out near-daily missile and drone strikes across Ukraine since its full-scale invasion began in early 2022, and has recently leaned more heavily on ballistic missiles that are difficult to intercept, taking advantage of Ukrainian air-defence shortages caused in part by supplies diverted to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran. Ukraine, meanwhile, has increasingly targeted warehouses of Russian online retailer Wildberries, which it says supplies drone components, alongside continued strikes on oil refineries, in an effort to weaken Russia's war economy.
UN figures show 437 civilians were killed in Ukraine in July, the highest monthly total since May 2022. Russian authorities reported 79 civilian deaths on their side that month, an increase from June.
