Belgorod governor says eight wounded by Ukrainian strikes, Russian Kyiv shelling continues

Eight people were wounded by overnight shelling that continued into the morning in the Russian town of Shebekino that damaged multiple buildings, the governor of the local Belgorod region said on Thursday.

In a video posted on Telegram, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said: “In Shebekino district, there is ongoing shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Eight people have been wounded. There are no dead.”

He said that local authorities would evacuate civilians as soon as the shelling was over.

“Of course, the lives of civilians, of the population is under threat. Primarily in Shebekino and in the surrounding villages”, he added.

The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine’ Kharkiv region, has come under repeated attack from Kyiv’s territory in recent months. In May, Ukrainian forces briefly seized a number of border settlements before retreating back across the frontier.

Meanwhile an 11-year-old girl, her mother and another woman were killed in a Russian missile strike on Kyiv early on Thursday, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s air force said air defences shot down all 10 ballistic and Iskander cruise missiles launched from Russia’s Bryansk region in the 18th attack on the capital since the start of May.

But falling missile debris often causes damage during such attacks. Police said a medical clinic, kindergarten, residential buildings and cars were damaged, and the Kyiv military administration said three people were killed and 10 hurt.

The city authorities did not say how they were killed but police said the victims included the 11-year-old girl and her mother.

“It is international children’s day. At night, Russia again killed a child in Kyiv,” said Andriy Yermak, chief of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office.

“Since 2014, the terrorist country has been committing crimes against little Ukrainians. From February 24, 2022, no one has any doubts – this is a real genocide.”

Russia has denied targeting civilians or committing war crimes but its forces have caused devastation in Ukrainian cities and repeatedly hit residential areas since its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

Russia has intensified missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital as Kyiv prepares to launch a counteroffensive. Russia says Ukrainian shelling of border areas has increased in recent weeks as Kyiv prepares its counterattack.

The Kyiv military administration reported damage in the Desnyanskyi region on the capital’s eastern outskirts as well as Dniprovkskyi district, closer to the centre.

Photographs posted on the Kyiv authorities’ website showed windows blown out in a clinic and nearby apartment buildings.

Other photos posted on social media showed rescue teams attending to residents in buildings, with shattered building materials strewn about on the street.

Air raid alerts in Kyiv and in most of eastern Ukraine were in effect for about an hour.