Russian defence ministry says it downs two drones near border as Ukraine shells villages

The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday it had brought down two Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region, a border province that comes under regular attack from Kyiv's forces.

Separately, the governors of the nearby frontier regions of Bryansk and Kursk said a string of border villages had come under fire from Ukraine, and a woman had been wounded in Kursk region.

Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian territory have picked up in recent weeks, with dozens of drones striking Russia at once on some days, reaching as far as the western city of Pskov, 600km from Ukraine.

Russian-installed authorities in the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine's Kherson region also said on Saturday that Kyiv struck the village of Maslivka in a drone strike, wounding a civilian.