Ukraine and Russia intensify attacks, several killed in Belgorod border region

Ukrainian missile strikes killed six people and wounded four others, including a child, in Russia's Belgorod region, the acting governor said Monday.

With frontline fighting at a near standstill and talks frozen, the warring countries have significantly stepped up missile attacks, pushing the civilian death toll to its highest levels since the war's first months in 2022.

"Ukrainian terrorists attacked the village of Koloskovo, Valuysky district, with missiles," Belgorod acting Governor Alexander Shuvaev said on the state-backed MAX platform. Koloskovo is about 15 kilometres (10 miles) from the Ukraine border.

The attack, which Shuvaev said burned a "structure" and damaged a vehicle, came a day after Russia and Ukraine carried out missile and drone strikes deep inside each other's territory that killed 19 people on both sides.

Port infrastructure targeted in Ukraine's Izmail

Ukrainian authorities said Monday that Russia targeted port infrastructure in Ukraine's Izmail district in the southern region of Odesa ‌overnight.

Fires caused by the attack have ‌been extinguished, the authorities added on the ⁠Telegram messaging app.

Russia's defence ministry said its forces had hit military targets in the port, which ‌it described as "a berthing terminal used for unloading vessels carrying military cargo, hangars housing ‌Western military equipment, and depots for naval drones". Reuters could not verify the ministry's assertions.

Izmail, close to the Romanian border, is home to Ukraine's largest port on the Danube river.

In a separate strike, Russia said its forces had hit a patrol boat and fuel storage tanks in Odesa.

The local governor there said a civilian Togo-flagged vessel was damaged ⁠and four people were injured.

Near-daily missile and drone strikes across Ukraine

Moscow has carried out near-daily missile and drone strikes across Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in early 2022.

It has recently intensified attacks using hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles, exploiting Ukraine's air-defence shortages after the US-Israeli war against Iran diverted supplies.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted warehouses belonging to Russia's biggest online retailer Wildberries, saying the company supplies components for Russian drones.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says those strikes, along with attacks on oil refineries, are aimed at undermining Russia's war economy.

In July alone, 437 civilians were killed in Ukraine, the highest monthly toll since May 2022, according to a United Nations tally.

Russian authorities have reported 79 civilians killed on their side in July, up from the previous month.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)