Fresh missile and drone attacks exchanged between Russia and Ukraine have left at least eight people dead and several others injured, according to officials from both countries.
The overnight strikes targeted civilian areas, energy facilities and residential buildings, further escalating tensions in the more than three-year-old conflict.
Both Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of intensifying attacks despite ongoing international calls for peace.
In Russia’s Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, local authorities said missile strikes damaged energy and water infrastructure, leaving parts of the area without essential services.
Emergency workers were deployed to restore electricity and repair damaged facilities. Russian officials described the attacks as some of the most serious cross-border assaults in recent weeks.
In the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian city of Horlivka, authorities installed by Moscow said four civilians, including two teenagers, were killed during shelling blamed on Ukrainian forces.
Several buildings and vehicles were also reportedly damaged in the attack. Kyiv did not immediately comment on the allegations.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russian drone and missile strikes killed civilians in the Kherson and Kharkiv regions, while others were wounded in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia.
A residential building in the city of Pavlohrad was hit by a drone strike that triggered a major fire, forcing rescue teams to evacuate residents.
Ukrainian air defence units claimed they intercepted a number of incoming drones during the assault.
The latest violence comes shortly after one of Russia’s largest aerial attacks on Kyiv since the war began, including the reported use of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile.
Russia said the strikes were retaliation for a Ukrainian drone attack on a dormitory in occupied Luhansk, an accusation denied by Kyiv.
Efforts led by the United States and other international actors to secure a ceasefire have continued to face setbacks as both sides maintain military pressure on the battlefield.
