Kiev’s forces attacked the city of Kursk in western Russia on Tuesday, Aleksandr Khinshtein said
FILE PHOTO: Fragments of a Ukrainian kamikaze drone in Russia. © Sergey Baturin / Sputnik
A Ukrainian drone struck a public beach in the city of Kursk in western Russia on Tuesday, killing three people and injuring seven others, regional governor Aleksandr Khinshtein said.
The victims, including two women and a five-year-old boy, were hospitalized with burns and shrapnel wounds, Khinshtein wrote on Telegram. At least one is in critical condition.
Ukrainian troops deliberately targeted civilians in a “barbaric” attack as people gathered on the beach to mark the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity, a holiday celebrated on July 8, the governor said.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the strike, criticizing the countries providing military aid to Ukraine. “Those supplying weapons to the Kiev regime should understand that they are being used to kill children,” she wrote on Telegram.
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The Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, has frequently come under drone and missile attacks since the conflict erupted in 2022. Earlier on Tuesday, a drone struck a house in the village of Karyzh, injuring one person.
Khinshtein added early Wednesday morning that two more people were injured in the city of Rylsk, where Ukrainian drones damaged an infectious disease center and an EMS station, and caused a fire at an office building of a farming complex.
In August 2024, Ukraine carried out a large-scale incursion into the region, capturing dozens of villages and the border town of Sudzha. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky said the offensive aimed to gain leverage during negotiations with Moscow. However, the Ukrainian gamble ultimately failed, as Russian forces had fully liberated the entire Kursk region by April.