Ukrainian strikes kill six in Russia's Belgorod region
Ukrainian attacks on southern Russia's Belgorod region killed six people on Friday, officials said. Russia's Emergencies Ministry said four bodies had been pulled from the rubble of a multi-floor apartment building hit by Ukrainian shelling in the border town of Shebekino. A ministry statement posted after midnight said 50 percent of the rubble from the site had been cleared. Pictures on the ministry's Telegram channel showed a crane clearing debris and the building's facade shattered, with one stairwell collapsed. Regional Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said a Ukrainian drone had struck a car in a village near Shebekino, killing the driver. He said a woman was killed in her home when it was struck by rocket fire in the village of Oktyabrsky, further west. Ukraine has staged frequent attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions in recent months. President Vladimir Putin cited attacks on Belgorod as grounds for a cross-border incursion last month into Ukraine's Kharkiv region. The Russian military said its troops seized about a dozen settlements, while Ukrainian officials say the advance has been contained. On the Ukrainian side of the border, military officials in Sumy region said a Russian air strike on Friday killed one person in the town of Shostka, about 45 km inside Ukrainian territory. Towns and villages in Sumy region, west of Belgorod, are subject to daily Russian attacks. (Reuters)