Three killed in Russian region as reciprocal drone strikes hit Belgorod and Sumy

A Ukrainian drone strike has killed three civilians, including a 24-month-old girl, in Russia's Belgorod region, according to Russian authorities. The attack hit a home in Proletarsky, about 20km from the border with Ukraine, as both sides reported overnight drone activity. Ukraine separately said Russian drones struck multiple locations in its northeast, leaving parts of Sumy region without power.

Russian officials said the dead were a mother, father and their young daughter, all killed at their home in Belgorod region. The Russian Ministry of Defence said its forces intercepted 29 Ukrainian drones overnight, including several over the Moscow region. On the Ukrainian side, the air force said Russia launched 96 drones from Friday evening, of which 81 were shot down or electronically suppressed by early Saturday.

It said there were hits at eight locations and falling debris at two others. The reported outages in parts of northeastern Sumy underline the continuing strain on civilian infrastructure near the front line. Sumy region has repeatedly faced cross-border attacks during the war, and local power disruptions can quickly affect households, services and emergency response.

The latest strikes also add to the civilian toll from the conflict, which has continued since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The overnight attacks come as direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives have resumed with US mediation, raising hopes of limited progress even as fighting continues. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that US negotiators had asked whether Kyiv would cede land to Moscow in exchange for NATO membership, but he said no concrete offer had been made.

He also said Ukraine would not withdraw its troops from territory it still controls in Donbas, the eastern region made up of Donetsk and Luhansk. The latest exchange of drone fire shows how the war continues to combine battlefield pressure with strikes on areas far from the front. Russia and Ukraine have both relied heavily on drones to target military and infrastructure sites, while each side also reports interceptions and electronic suppression on a near-daily basis.

Civilian deaths in border regions and damage to power networks remain among the most immediate consequences for people living close to the fighting. What remains unclear is the full scale of damage from the overnight strikes and whether there were any further casualties beyond those already confirmed. It is also not yet clear how long the outages in Sumy will last or whether additional air defences intercepted more drones after the initial reports.

The next round of talks, which European representatives are expected to join, may provide further diplomatic context, but there is no sign yet of a breakthrough.

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