Russia claims that Ukrainian artillery fire has killed four in border areas

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region reported that four persons were slain on Friday in two separate Ukrainian artillery attacks on villages close the frontier, while officials in adjacent regions reported drone attacks overnight.

Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that artillery had struck the town of Maslova Pristan, approximately 15 kilometers from the northern region of Kharkiv in Ukraine, and that fragments had hit passing vehicles.

“In one of them, two women were traveling. They succumbed to their wounds on the spot,” he explained.

125 kilometers to the southeast of the initial incident, missiles struck the town of Sobolevka, killing two and injuring six persons, according to Gladkov’s report. He stated that the victims were standing outside near residential structures.

14 kilometers separate Sobolevka from the Ukraine‘s frontier. In recent days, Russian officials have reported that attacks emanating from northern Ukraine have intensified.

In the past week, pro-Ukrainian forces have repeatedly bombarded the town of Shebekino, according to Russian officials. Gladkov stated that all road and rail travel had been suspended in the district until June 30.

He stated that more than 2,500 people were being evacuated from the Shebekino region because it was deemed unsafe.

The governor of the Bryansk region, which is located north of Belgorod, reported that four residences had been damaged by artillery, while the head of the neighboring Kursk region reported that several structures had been damaged by a drone attack overnight.

The local governor reported that two villages in the Smolensk region were attacked by long-range drones overnight.

The reported attacks could not be independently confirmed by Reuters.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that its forces repelled three cross-border incursions by “terrorist formations” from Ukraine into the Belgorod region.

Ukraine denies its military’s involvement in the incursions, claiming they are carried out by Russian volunteer combatants.

Reuters