Deadly Cross-Border Strikes Hit Ukraine and Russia
At least 14 people were killed in a fresh escalation of cross-border strikes between Ukraine and Russia on Sunday (August 2, 2026), according to officials in both countries. Ukrainian attacks on multiple Russian regions killed at least nine people, while Russian strikes on Ukrainian territory left at least five dead, as the nearly four-and-a-half-year war continues to intensify.
Ukrainian forces struck areas far beyond the front lines, with some attacks landing hundreds of kilometres inside Russian territory. In Russia's Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, shelling killed four people, including a 13-year-old girl near a playground, according to acting regional governor Alexander Shuvaev. "The 13-year-old girl was gravely wounded. Medics who arrived at the scene took all possible measures to save her, but her injuries were not incompatible with life," he said.
A separate drone attack on the Saratov region, which borders Kazakhstan, claimed two lives. In the Udmurtia region, more than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the front line, a drone strike on a car killed three people, according to acting governor Olga Abramova. She described the attack as "monstrous in its senselessness," adding that the victims "were definitely not a military target."
Russia's defence ministry said its air defence systems intercepted 635 Ukrainian drones overnight.
On the Ukrainian side, Russian strikes killed two people in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and at least one person each in the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, regional authorities reported. A separate Russian attack destroyed a postal terminal in the northern Kharkiv region, killing a postal worker, according to Ukrainian officials.
The exchange of strikes comes amid signs that both Moscow and Kyiv are increasing the scale and intensity of attacks on each other. Civilian casualties in Ukraine have soared this year, as Russia has ramped up its use of hard-to-intercept long-range missiles, according to UN data.
Kyiv, which denies targeting civilians, says its strikes are fair retaliation for Russian bombardment of its own territory and are aimed at pressuring Moscow into negotiations. Ukrainian forces have launched waves of retaliatory strikes on Russian energy facilities and retail warehouses in recent months, an effort to inflict economic pain and force a diplomatic settlement.
Despite the escalation, U.S.-led talks aimed at ending the conflict remain largely frozen, with no visible progress reported in recent weeks.
Both sides have continued to trade blame for civilian casualties, with each accusing the other of deliberately targeting non-combatants. The latest toll brings the total number of deaths from Sunday's strikes to at least 14, though the full scope of the damage is still being assessed.