Ukraine Missile Strike on Belgorod Kills at Least 6

At least six people were killed and four others, including a 14-year-old, were injured in a Ukrainian missile attack on the Belgorod region in western Russia.

According to acting Belgorod Governor Alexander Shuvaev, Monday's strike targeted the village of Koloskovo in the Valuysky district. Shuvaev said a structure was "burned down" and a vehicle was damaged in the attack. Koloskovo lies about 15 kilometers from Ukraine's northeastern border.

Around the same time, Russian forces launched missile and drone attacks across Ukraine, killing at least four people and wounding 19 others.

Specifically, at least two people were killed and four wounded in a Russian attack on the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine. In Sumy, northeastern Ukraine, at least two people were killed and one wounded by Russian shelling, according to emergency services.

In the Dnipropetrovsk region of central Ukraine, at least five people were wounded in a Russian attack. Four more were injured after two Russian guided bombs hit Izyum in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Additionally, five people were wounded in Russian attacks on the southern Kherson region.

In the Odesa region, also in southern Ukraine, a Russian attack targeted port infrastructure in the Izmail district. Ukrainian authorities said on Telegram that fires caused by the overnight attack, which damaged a civilian vessel flying the Togo flag, had been extinguished. Izmail, near the Romanian border, hosts Ukraine's largest port on the Danube River.

The attacks came a day after Russia and Ukraine carried out missile and drone strikes deep into each other's territory, killing 19 people in both countries.

With front-line fighting nearly stalled and U.S.-backed negotiations to end the conflict stalled, the two countries have significantly escalated missile attacks, pushing civilian death tolls to their highest levels since the early months of 2022.

Russia has launched near-daily missile and drone attacks across Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Recently, Russia has increased its use of hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles, exploiting Ukraine's shortage of air-defense weapons after the U.S.-Israel war against Iran strained global supplies.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted warehouses of Wildberries, Russia's largest online retailer, accusing the company of selling components for Russian drones and equipping Russian soldiers. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said those strikes, along with attacks on oil refineries, aim to weaken Russia's war economy.

According to United Nations statistics, 437 civilians were killed in Ukraine in July alone, the highest monthly toll since May 2022. Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported 79 civilian deaths in Ukrainian attacks in July, up from the previous month.