A series of Ukrainian drone attacks on the region of Belgorod injured at least 16 people yesterday, the governor of the region in Russia’s southwest that borders Ukraine said today.

Among the injured were a doctor and a paramedic, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app. Eight people were hospitalised, he added.

The Russian defence ministry said that its units destroyed 12 drones that Ukraine launched overnight, three of them over the Belgorod region. The ministry reports only the number of drones destroyed, not how many Ukraine launched.

Reuters could not independently verify the Russian reports.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Both sides deny targeting civilians in the war that Russia started with an invasion of Ukraine 2022.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin called for direct talks with Ukraine on Thursday, while he called a proposal, issued at the weekend by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his European allies for a 30-day ceasefire, an ultimatum.

Zelenskyy said that he would attend the talks that are to take place in the Turkish city of Istanbul if Putin is also there, and urged US President Donald Trump, who offered to join the meeting, to come along as well.

Major European powers, supported by the US, threw their weight behind an unconditional 30-day Ukraine ceasefire and threatened President Vladimir Putin with ‘massive’ new sanctions if he did not accept within days https://t.co/5bcMfGoG8R pic.twitter.com/DNTx5DqyFe

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 10, 2025