Russia says five people killed in Ukrainian attacks in Kursk and Caucasus

Four people were killed in Kursk, and a fifth in the Russian Caucasus.

A Ukrainian attack on a town in the Russian border region of Kursk, where Ukraine has been leading an offensive since August, left four dead and several injured on Wednesday December 25. Three people were killed by a “barbaric bombing of the Ukrainian army” and a fourth victim died of his injuries in hospital, the acting governor of Kursk wrote on Telegram. “Five people were hospitalized”including one in serious condition, he added.

A woman was also killed Wednesday morning in a fire which broke out after a drone fell on a shopping center in North Ossetia, in the Russian Caucasus. The fire “declared in the Alania Mall shopping center” in Vladikavkaz, the main city of this Caucasian republic, regional leader Sergei Menyailo wrote on Telegram. According to the Ministry of Defense, “the explosion and the fire (…) were caused by falling debris from a drone” shot down by air defense systems. The Kremlin claims that several regions of the Russian Caucasus were targeted on Wednesday by Ukrainian drone attacks.

For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky denounced an attack on Wednesday “inhumane”claiming that Russia launched 70 missiles against Ukraine on Christmas Day. The strikes left at least one dead and six injured, according to Ukrainian authorities.