Ukrainian and Russian attacks kill 3 civilians

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Ukrainian attacks on Russia's Belgorod border region killed two civilians while Russian shelling of eastern Ukraine left a man dead, officials said Sunday.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that a woman was killed when shelling struck a private home in the border town of Shebekino, while a man died in a drone strike on the village of Rakitnoe.

The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has faced frequent cross-border attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In Ukraine, a man was killed and residential buildings and infrastructure were damaged by Russian shelling in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, Serhii Horbunov, head of the city’s military administration, said Sunday.

The latest round of attacks came after Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens. Russia launched 619 drones and missiles during the attack, Ukraine’s air force said.

Writing on social media site X on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had been targeted by “more than 1,500 strike drones, over 1,280 guided aerial bombs, and 50 missiles of various types” over the previous week.

Noting that “thousands of foreign components” were found in the Russian weaponry, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “counting on the 19th EU sanctions package to be truly painful, and on the United States to join the Europeans.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the package of sanctions on Friday.

Zelenskyy expects to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, where he has said he hopes to gauge how close Ukraine and its partners are to finalizing long-term security guarantees.

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