Drones Fell on Russian Border Towns as Fears Rise of Ukraine-Based Attacks

Russian state news reported Friday afternoon that a drone fell on an office building in Belgorod at its border with Ukraine, causing serious damage, moments before governors in two other border regions reported other apparent drone attacks.

Federal officials were investigating at least two of the incidents, the one in Belgorod and another in Kursk at what a local governor described in a Telegram post as an oil depot. The governor of Voronezh, immediately to the east, reported on his own Telegram channel that a third drone fell onto the street and that special forces had arrived to investigate.

None of the incidents appeared to produce critical damage, and none accounted for any casualties in the border regions. But they do seem to have caused widespread alarm at the potential for new anti-Kremlin attacks within Russian territory.

The timing of the incidents is conspicuous, coming less than a day after widespread reports that Ukraine has begun its major counteroffensive to liberate Russian-occupied territory there. It also comes less than a week after ethnic Russian Ukraine-based militia launched a series of raids in the Belgorod region against Russian troops based there.