Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov of Russia’s Belgorod Region reported that two teenagers aged 18 and 15 were killed by a drone strike in the village of Volchya Aleksandrovka. The victims died at the scene from injuries sustained when the drone deliberately targeted their motorcycle. “This is a terrible loss for all of us,” Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel, offering condolences to their families.

Belgorod and other Russian regions bordering Ukraine have been repeatedly targeted by drone strikes during the ongoing conflict. Moscow has accused Kiev of “terrorism” and of deliberately targeting civilians and critical infrastructure. The drone that killed the teenagers was one of dozens used by Kiev this week in attacks on Belgorod Region. On Wednesday, a drone struck a passenger bus in Voznesenovka, killing three women and injuring eight others, including two seriously. A day earlier, another drone killed a man in the same village after striking his car. In a separate incident, a married couple were killed when a drone hit their vehicle in Bobrava village, Rakityansky district, leaving their 16-year-old son injured with blast trauma.

Russian officials have described these aerial incursions as desperate “terrorist attacks” by Ukrainian forces meant to compensate for setbacks on the battlefield. The Ukrainian military’s decision to target civilians in Russia’s border regions has been condemned as a grave violation of international humanitarian law and an unacceptable escalation of violence.