Russian drone strikes kill two at Ukraine-Moldova border crossing
Two people have been killed after Russian drones struck the Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
The crossing was closed following the overnight attack, with images from the scene showing burnt-out vehicles scattered among the debris.
In Kyiv, a Russian drone hit a nine-storey residential building, killing a woman and injuring 14 people, including two children, according to local officials. In the north-eastern city of Sumy, three people were killed and 20 others injured after a drone struck a shopping centre on Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, Russian authorities reported that four people, including a child, died during a Ukrainian drone attack on the Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk. Another drone strike targeted an industrial facility in the Arctic city of Novy Urengoy.
Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said the attack on the Starokozache crossing also left three people injured. A Moldovan driver was among those wounded, according to Moldova’s foreign ministry.
Zelensky called for greater international action following the strike, warning that the aggression must be stopped before it spreads further.
Moldova has increasingly been affected by the war, with Prime Minister Vasile Tofan saying 17 drones entered Moldovan territory in August alone — more than the country recorded throughout the whole of last year.
“Those who ignore or downplay these threats, and refuse to name the aggressor, are denying reality,” Tofan said on social media, adding that Russia was solely responsible for starting the war.
Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In Russia, the Defence Ministry said its forces intercepted and destroyed 596 Ukrainian drones overnight. Novorossiysk suffered the heaviest impact in what Krasnodar regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev described as a “massive overnight enemy drone attack.”
In addition to the four fatalities, 29 people were injured, while residential buildings, a church and a preschool were reportedly damaged.
In Novy Urengoy, regional governor Dmitry Artyukhov said authorities had repelled a drone attack on an industrial facility. Falling debris sparked a fire, but no injuries were reported.
Ukraine’s military later said it had struck the Novourengoysky ZPKT, a major oil-processing facility located more than 3,000km from Ukraine’s border. Kyiv said the facility’s petroleum products and gas condensate were being used to support Russia’s war effort.
The latest attacks came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump as diplomatic efforts to end the conflict continued.
The Trump administration has been pushing Moscow and Kyiv towards direct negotiations, with Ukraine indicating that talks could be held this month. The Kremlin, however, has said it is too early to determine a date or location.
Putin’s call with Trump followed weekend discussions in Moscow between the Russian leader and US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. The two envoys subsequently travelled to Kyiv, where they met Zelensky on Sunday.
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