MOSCOW/NEW DELHI: A Ukrainian drone strike on a bus in Russia’s Belgorod region killed five people including a child on Monday, authorities said, while Kyiv said Russian strikes on several Ukrainian cities left at least eight dead.
Russia has escalated its bombardment of Ukraine, killing dozens of people in missile strikes since the beginning of the month, according to Ukrainian authorities. Kyiv has also intensified its retaliatory strikes.
Russian border regions have been hit by cross-border strikes since the start of Moscow’s offensive in February 2022. In the Russian town of Shebekino — less than five kilometres (three miles) from the Ukrainian border — a Ukrainian drone “deliberately and cynically struck a passenger coach”, the acting governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Alexander Shuvaev, said on social media.
“Five innocent civilians, including a minor, were killed as a result of this inhuman and despicable attack... In addition, 23 civilians were injured, including a teenager,” he added.
Four Indians die in attack on ship
In Ukraine, Russian strikes on the eastern cities of Pavlograd and Kramatorsk killed two people each, while Russian bombardment of the southern Ukrainian regions of Odesa and Zaporizhzhia killed four others, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine launched scores of drones at the Moscow region, sparking fires and wounding at least 10 people, Russia said.
Both Russia and Ukraine — which deny targeting civilians — have launched repeated strikes on each other in recent months, as US-led talks on ending the nearly four-and-a-half year conflict remain stalled.
More civilians were killed in Ukraine in June than in any single month since April 2022, according to the United Nations.
Attack on ship
India said on Monday that four of its nationals were killed in attacks on a commercial ship near the Ukrainian port in Odesa and another was in hospital in critical condition.
A foreign ministry statement condemned the strike, saying the MV Golden Leo “was attacked while departing the port of Odesa” and had five Indians among its crew of 17. “As per information available, four Indian nationals have tragically lost their lives, while one is hospitalised in a critical condition,” the statement said.
Ukraine’s navy said that Russian missile strikes on a Turkish-owned cargo ship carrying grain had killed five people on board, while another five crew members were missing.
Russia launched three cruise missiles at the Golden Leo, which flies the flag of Guinea-Bissau, as it was “leaving the combat zone with a cargo of grain”, the navy said in a statement.
“This is yet another deliberate strike by Russia against an unarmed civilian vessel flying a foreign flag that posed no military threat whatsoever,” said the statement.
“The attack constitutes an act of terrorism against peaceful navigation and a gross violation of international humanitarian law,” it added.
A statement from Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said the crew had included citizens of Syria and India.
“A Ukrainian maritime pilot was killed, as well as four crew members, eight crew members were evacuated and five still remain missing,” he added.
“While the world is still responding to Russia’s brutal overnight attack on Kyiv, Moscow continues its campaign of terror throughout the day,” he said in the statement, posted on X.
Russia fired two dozen ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight on Sunday, killing one person and wounding 16. Russia’s armed forces regularly bombard Ukraine’s port infrastructure, particularly the Odesa region on the Black Sea.
Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2026
