Russia says its border regions have been attacked; Moscow forces strike a clinic in the center of the Ukrainian city

Kyiv, Ukraine — Belgorod region in southern Russia, bordering Ukraine, was attacked on Friday by artillery fire, mortar shells and Ukrainian drones, authorities said, hours after two drones hit hit a Russian town in an area near the annexed Crimean peninsula.

Meanwhile, Moscow forces struck a building containing psychology and veterinary clinics in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, killing two people and injuring 30, including two children, Ukrainian officials said. .

Video released by regional governor Serhiy Lysak showed a fire engulfing the three-story building which appeared nearly destroyed, with only parts of a wall standing, as firefighters battled the flames.

A Russian S-300 missile hit a dam in the Karlivka district of Donetsk province in eastern Ukraine, threatening nearby towns with flooding.

The town of Graivoron, in Russia’s Belgorod region, about 7 kilometers (more than 4 miles) from the Ukrainian border, came under fire for several hours, damaging four houses, a shop, a car, a gas pipeline and a power line. electric, Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov reported.

Closer to the border, a recreation center, a store and an empty house were damaged in the village of Glotovo. A woman was injured when Novaya Tavolzhanka was shelled, Gladkov said.

Earlier this week, the Belgorod region was the target of one of the most serious cross-border attacks from Ukraine since the start of the war 15 months ago. Details of the raid were hazy. Russia blamed the Ukrainian armed forces, but two Russian groups said they were involved, in a bid to bring down Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Officials in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, in the region of the same name bordering Crimea, said two drones struck there. Witnesses told local media they heard something like the sound of a moped and then two explosions.

The explosions punched a hole in the roof of a building and blew out the windows of a building.

“We just went to bed and then there was such a loud, terrible boom,” said resident Tatiana Safonova. “We ran outside. There were people running, but nothing else was happening.

She said she described the sound in advance “like a loud, growling moped passing by.”

Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratyev wrote on Telegram that there were no casualties and some buildings were damaged but critical infrastructure was not damaged.

Krasnodar Mayor Yevgeny Naumov said a residential building and an office building were damaged.

Drone attacks on Russian border regions have occurred regularly since the invasion began in February 2022, with attacks increasing in the past month. Earlier this month, an oil refinery in Krasnodar was attacked by drones for two consecutive days.

At a meeting in Estonia, German and Baltic leaders played down concerns about the fighting spilling over into Russia.

“Russia attacked Ukraine, and so Ukraine can defend itself,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “It is clear that the weapons we have delivered will only be used on Ukrainian territory.”

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas noted that “Ukraine does not wish to invade Russia”, and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte added: “I am somewhat perplexed by Russia’s concern, because Russia is at war – so it’s quite strange to think that war can only take place in this other territory that you have invaded.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry released a video on Thursday showing a marine drone heading towards the Russian reconnaissance vessel Ivan Khurs in the Black Sea. The video did not show the drone hitting the ship.

The video followed reports from the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday that Ukraine launched an unsuccessful attack on the Ivan Khurs using three unmanned speedboats, with all three destroyed before reaching vessel. Moscow released a video allegedly showing the destruction of one of the marine drones.

At least two civilians have been killed and three others injured in Russian attacks on Ukraine in the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian president’s office reported on Friday.

In Moscow, Chinese special envoy Li Hui met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and they exchanged “views on the situation around Ukraine and the prospects for resolving the conflict”, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Foreign Affairs.

Lavrov cited “serious obstacles to resuming peace talks created by the Ukrainian side and its Western handlers,” the statement said, but he did not disclose what Li said or proposed.

Li visited kyiv earlier this month. Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government says it is neutral and wants to mediate in the conflict, but has backed Moscow politically. Beijing released a draft peace plan in February, but Ukraine’s allies have largely rejected it, insisting Russian President Vladimir Putin must first withdraw his forces.

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Yuras Karmanau in Tallinn, Estonia, and Elise Morton in London, contributed.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine