Four people were killed and 14 injured in two drone attacks in Russia's Belgorod region on Sunday, October 25, 2026, local authorities said, in one of the deadliest strikes on the border region in recent weeks.
An overnight drone attack on the city of Belgorod killed three people and injured 13, according to regional governor Alexander Shuvayev, while a separate drone strike on Sunday morning killed one person and wounded another in the village of Voznesenovka, near the town of Shebekino.
Overnight attack on Belgorod city
Belgorod mayor Valentin Demidov said the death toll in the city rose after an injured man died in hospital. "Unfortunately, the death toll from last night's attack (in the city of Belgorod) has risen — another man who had been injured has died in hospital. This is a great tragedy for all the city's residents," Demidov wrote on the state-backed messaging app MAX, as reported by Reuters.
The overnight attack damaged 30 apartment buildings, 35 cars, four houses, three administrative buildings, eight commercial premises and three social facilities, Shuvayev said. Regional officials described the assault as a massive drone attack, and emergency crews were sent to affected sites across the city.
Second strike near Shebekino
In a separate incident on Sunday morning, a Ukrainian drone struck a car in the village of Voznesenovka near Shebekino, killing one person and injuring another, local authorities said. The village lies in the Shebekinsky district, close to the border with Ukraine.
Belgorod, in southern Russia, sits a short distance from Ukraine's northeastern border, and the region has been repeatedly targeted by drone attacks during the war. Sweden Herald, citing the region's governor, described the overnight assault as a "massive" drone attack, while unconfirmed reports cited by The Kyiv Independent said a large shopping center in the city caught fire.
Part of wider cross-border strikes
The Belgorod attacks came amid a wider exchange of strikes. Russia's Defense Ministry said more than 530 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russia overnight, according to the exiled Russian outlet Astra, as reported by Sweden Herald. In Ukraine, two people were injured in Russian attacks in the Chernihiv region, four in strikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia and two in attacks on settlements in the Kharkiv region, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service.
Reuters noted that its reporting on the Belgorod casualties was based on statements from local authorities, and the figures were updated during Sunday as the city death toll rose.
What happens next
For residents of Belgorod, the attacks are a reminder of how directly the war now reaches Russian border cities, with homes, cars and public buildings damaged alongside the loss of life. For both sides, the strikes underline that long-range drone warfare continues to expand, hitting targets far from the front lines.
The key question now is whether the tempo of cross-border drone attacks eases or escalates further — and how authorities on both sides respond to the growing civilian toll.
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