A Ukrainian drone strike on a bus in Russia's Belgorod region killed five people, including a child, authorities said, while Kiev said Russian strikes on several Ukrainian cities left at least eight dead, and four Indians were killed in attacks on the Ukrainian port of Odessa.
In the Russian town of Shebekino on Monday, less than five kilometres from the Ukrainian border, a Ukrainian drone "deliberately and cynically struck a passenger coach", the acting governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Alexander Shuvaev, said on social media.
"Five innocent civilians, including a minor, were killed as a result of this inhuman and despicable attack. In addition, 23 civilians were injured, including a teenager," he added.
In Ukraine, Russian strikes on the eastern cities of Pavlograd and Kramatorsk killed two people each, while Russian bombardment of the southern Ukrainian regions of Odessa and Zaporizhzhia killed four others, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Earlier on Monday, Ukraine launched scores of drones at the Moscow region, sparking fires and wounding at least 10 people, Russia said.
Meanwhile, India said that four of its nationals were killed in attacks on a commercial ship near the Ukrainian port of Odessa and another was in hospital in critical condition.
A foreign ministry statement condemned the strike, saying the MV Golden Leo "was attacked while departing the port of Odesa" and had five Indians among its crew of 17.
"As per information available, four Indian nationals have tragically lost their lives, while one is hospitalised in a critical condition," the statement said.
Russia has escalated its bombardment of Ukraine, killing dozens of people in missile strikes since the beginning of the month, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Kiev has also intensified its retaliatory strikes.
Russian border regions have been hit by cross-border strikes since the start of the war in February 2022.
Both Russia and Ukraine, which deny targeting civilians, have launched repeated strikes on each other in recent months, as US-led talks on ending the nearly four-and-a-half-year conflict remain stalled.
More civilians were killed in Ukraine in June than in any single month since April 2022, according to the United Nations.
