The remnants of a drone that was destroyed over the Russian area of Belgorod, bordering Ukraine, fell onto residential properties, resulting in the unfortunate loss of two lives and causing injuries to at least two other individuals, as announced by the regional governor on Thursday.
“The air defence system in Belgorod district shot down an aircraft-type UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) approaching the city,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“As a result of falling debris, a private residential building caught fire,” he said, adding later that the falling debris had completely destroyed one residential building, and partially damaged two others.

“Unfortunately, there are dead. The bodies of two people — a man and a woman — were recovered from the rubble by emergency services,” he wrote.

Another two people, also a man and a woman, were injured in the incident, and had been brought to hospital.

The man was in a coma and had suffered significant burns, while the woman had a concussion and a fractured leg, he said, adding that doctors had assessed the woman’s condition as “serious”.

He warned that a child was believed to still be under the rubble, saying “the rescue operation continues”.

Early Thursday, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram that an attempted Ukrainian drone attack in the Belgorod region had been “thwarted” at around 11:30 pm (2030 GMT) Wednesday.

It made no mention of casualties.

Since Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in June, Russia has weathered waves of drone attacks, especially in border regions.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian shelling killed two civilians in the Belgorod region, according to Gladkov.