A woman in Russia’s western Belgorod region was killed when a Ukrainian drone hit the car she was travelling in on Tuesday morning, Belgorod region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
The drone struck the car near the village of Oktyabrsky, Gladkov said, killing the woman instantly, in what he called “the latest deliberate strike on civilians by the Ukrainian army”.
The woman’s mother-in-law, father-in-law and husband, all of whom had shrapnel injuries, were taken to hospital in the city of Belgorod for treatment, Gladkov added.
Russia’s Defence Ministry earlier reported that its air defence systems had downed a guided missile and two drones over the Belgorod region, as well as one drone over the neighbouring Kursk region.
This is the second such incident in less than a week. On Friday, Gladkov reported a drone strike on a moving car in Oktyabrsky, which is located around 15 km from the Ukrainian border, in which a woman and her four-year-old son were killed.
Firefighters extinguish a blaze following a Russian strike on Kharkiv, Ukraine, 21 May 2024. Photo: Oleh Syniehubov
Across the border in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Tuesday morning that seven people had suffered “acute stress reactions” in a Russian attack on transport infrastructure in the city of Kharkiv overnight, while a 52-year-old man had died in hospital of injuries sustained during a Russian attack on the nearby village of Lyptsi on Friday.
Syniehubov had previously declared Monday to be a day of mourning in the Kharkiv region following Russian strikes on the villages of Kivsharivka, Mala Danylivka and Novoosynove on Saturday that killed 12 people.
Ukraine’s Air Force reported on Tuesday morning that it had downed 28 of a total 29 Shahed drones launched by Russia at targets across the country overnight.
In his daily video address on Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that while Ukraine “maintained control everywhere” despite Russia’s offensive in the Kharkiv region, Russia’s increasing use of repurposed Soviet-era “glide bombs” underscored Ukraine’s need for additional air defence systems that could “significantly mitigate the difficulties for our warriors and the threat to our cities and communities”.
