Ukrainian missile strikes kill 6 in Russia's Belgorod

MOSCOW: Ukrainian missile strikes killed six people and wounded four others, including a child, in Russia’s Belgorod region, the acting governor said Monday.

With frontline fighting at a near standstill and talks frozen, the warring countries have significantly stepped-up missile attacks, pushing the civilian death toll to its highest levels since the war’s first months in 2022.

“Ukrainian terrorists attacked the village of Koloskovo, Valuysky district, with missiles,” Belgorod acting governor Alexander Shuvaev said on the state-backed MAX platform. Koloskovo is about 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the Ukraine border.

The attack, which Shuvaev said burned a “structure” and damaged a vehicle, came a day after Russia and Ukraine carried out missile and drone strikes deep inside each other’s territory that killed 19 people on both sides.

Moscow has recently intensified attacks using hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles, exploiting Ukraine’s air-defence shortages after the US-Israeli war against Iran diverted supplies.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted warehouses belonging to Russia’s biggest online retailer Wildberries, saying the company supplies components for Russian drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says those strikes, along with attacks on oil refineries, are aimed at undermining Russia’s war economy.

In July alone, 437 civilians were killed in Ukraine, the highest monthly toll since May 2022, according to a United Nations tally.

Russian authorities have reported 79 civilians killed on their side in July, up from the previous month.