Ukrainian Drones Strike the Russian City of Belgorod
Ukrainian drones struck the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, in a fresh long-range attack, footage of the strike showed. It came as Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met his Iranian counterpart to discuss the disputed strike on an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea. The two wars — in Ukraine and the Gulf — are increasingly entangled.
Ukraine has intensified its campaign against targets deep inside Russia, hitting refineries, depots and border cities in an effort to raise the cost of the war for Moscow. Russia, in turn, has pounded Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles, killing civilians nightly. The meeting between Mr Lavrov and Iran’s Abbas Araghchi underscored Moscow and Tehran’s deepening alignment, days after Iran accused Ukraine of attacking one of its vessels. Diplomatic contacts over Ukraine remain stalled. Watch the deep-strike campaign and any hardening of the Russia–Iran axis.