The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said that two people were killed and four others injured on Friday after Ukraine shelled a town near the border, while officials in nearby regions reported overnight drone attacks.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that shelling had struck a section of road in the town of Maslova Pristan, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region, and that shell fragments had struck passing cars.
“Two women were travelling in one of them. They died from their injuries on the spot,” he said.
In another message posted later on Friday, Gladkov said two more people had been injured and an industrial facility had caught fire after shelling in the town of Shebekino.
Shebekino also suffered heavy bombardment on Thursday as well as a cross-border incursion, Russian officials said.
Gladkov said more than 2,500 people were being evacuated from the Shebekino area.
The governor of the Bryansk region, north of Belgorod, said four homes had been damaged by shelling, while the head of neighboring Kursk region said some buildings had been damaged in an overnight drone attack.
Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region overnight, the local governor there said, while the head of Russia’s Kaluga region said a blast had been reported in a forest.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported attacks.
Russian officials have in recent days reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine. The Defense Ministry said its forces had repelled on Thursday three cross-border attacks by what it said were Ukrainian “terrorist formations” into the Belgorod region.
Ukraine denies its military is involved in the incursions and claims they are conducted by Russian volunteer fighters.
Ukrainian authorities on Friday lifted air raid alerts across most of the nation.
Russia has launched around 20 separate missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since the start of May.
