Ukrainian and Russian strikes kill over a dozen civilians

Salespeople sell goods at a street market next to a building damaged following a Russian missile strike in Kyiv on July 20, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

• Russia has escalated its bombardment of Ukraine, killing dozens of people in missile strikes since the start of the month
• A later Ukrainian strike on a car wash in the nearby city of Belgorod killed a man

MOSCOW: Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s Belgorod border region killed six people on Monday, authorities said, while Kyiv reported eight deaths following Russian attacks.
Russia has escalated its bombardment of Ukraine, killing dozens of people in missile strikes since the start of the month, and Kyiv has intensified retaliatory strikes.
In Shebekino — less than five kilometers (three miles) from the Ukrainian border — a Ukrainian drone “deliberately and cynically struck a passenger coach,” the acting governor of Belgorod, 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.
A later Ukrainian strike on a car wash in the nearby city of Belgorod killed a man, Shuvaev said.
Ukraine authorities said Russian strikes on the eastern cities of Pavlograd and Kramatorsk killed two people each and four others in the southern regions of Odesa and Zaporizhzhia.
Earlier Monday, Ukraine launched scores of drones at the Moscow region, sparking fires and wounding at least 10 people, Russia said.
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.