A Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Kursk occurred on Tuesday, resulting in the death of an elderly woman and injuries to nine others, as reported by local authorities. The strike targeted the regional capital, which is located approximately 90 kilometers (55 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
This incident follows a tragic event just two days prior, where a Russian ballistic missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Sumy killed at least 35 people. The frequency of aerial attacks has increased despite calls for a ceasefire from U.S. President Donald Trump to end three years of ongoing conflict.
Kursk Governor Alexander Khinsthein condemned the drone strike, labeling it a “crime of unprecedented cruelty.” According to reports, the 85-year-old woman who died in the attack was a civilian, and six of the nine injured individuals suffered from shrapnel wounds, burns, and head injuries, necessitating hospitalization.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have recently announced the formation of strike drone units. The Russian defense ministry claimed that Ukraine launched a total of 115 drones overnight, with 109 of them being shot down over the Kursk region.
Attacks on border villages have become commonplace in the ongoing conflict; however, civilian casualties from Ukrainian strikes on Russian cities have been less frequent. Russian investigators stated that the drones used in the attack were filled with metal shrapnel intended to maximize damage to civilians and infrastructure.
Photos shared by the regional government on social media displayed significant damage to an apartment building and debris scattered across the area. In a statement on social media, a Kyiv official suggested that the drone strike may have hit a military target, claiming that “unknown drones hit a Russian ammunition depot in Kursk,” according to Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine’s disinformation countering center.
As of the most recent assessments, Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces out of nearly all but 50 square kilometers of the Kursk region. Moscow’s military has increased pressure on the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv this year, claiming several border villages and raising concerns of a potential new offensive warned by Ukraine’s army.
