1 killed, 10 injured in Ukrainian drone attack on Russia's Kursk

Moscow, Aug 15 (IANS) One person was killed and 10 others were injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a residential building in Russia's Kursk region early Friday, regional governor Alexander Khinshtein said on his Telegram channel.

The drone hit a building in the city's Railway District, igniting a fire that engulfed the top four floors, Xinhua News Agency reported, citing preliminary reports.

"To our deep sorrow, one woman died. I offer my sincerest condolences to her family," Khinshtein wrote on Telegram.

He said that 10 other residents were injured -- one seriously -- and all are receiving medical treatment.

Russia on Wednesday accused Ukraine of ramping up attacks ahead of the August 15 meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Alaska.

In a statement shared on X, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that 22 people have been killed and another 105 injured due to Ukraine's shelling and drone strikes over the past week. The ministry also shared a map marking the attacked areas in the Russian territory.

"With the Russia-US Summit approaching, the Kyiv regime has stepped up its terrorist activity against Russian regions. Over the last week, 127 Russian citizens suffered from shelling and drone attacks. 22 died, 105 were wounded," said Alexei Fadeev, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Deputy Spokesperson.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry accused the Ukrainian government of planning a provocation aimed at disrupting the upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin.

In a post on Telegram, the Russian Defence Ministry said, "According to available information received through several channels, the Kyiv regime is preparing a provocation to foil the Russian-American talks scheduled for 15 August 2025."

The ministry asserted that with this objective, the security service of Ukraine has sent a group of foreign journalists to Kharkiv's Chuguev, which is under the control of Kyiv, under the pretext of doing "reports on the residents of the city in the frontline zone." The defence ministry also claimed that the Ukrainian forces will carry out the strikes on the city and blame it on Russia.

"Immediately ahead of the summit on Friday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine plan a provocative strike using UAVs and missiles against one of the densely populated residential quarters or a hospital with a large number of civilian casualties, which will have to be immediately recorded by the foreign Western journalists," said the Russian Defence Ministry.

As a result, the ministry said that the Russian forces will be considered fully responsible for the strikes and civilian casualties. "This will create a negative media background and conditions for disrupting Russian-American cooperation on settling the conflict in Ukraine," the statement read.

--IANS

int/akl/svn