Moscow, Russia (AFP)-A Ukrainian drone attack killed three people, including a National Guard soldier, in the Russian city of Kursk, near the border with Ukraine, the region’s acting governor said.

“To our deep sorrow, as a result of the attack on the municipal beach, three people died on the spot,” Alexander Khinshtein wrote on Telegram late Tuesday, adding later that seven others were wounded, including a young boy.

Khinshtein accused Ukrainian forces of an “inhumane attack” Tuesday night in which “the enemy deliberately struck a place where civilians were located”.

Khinshtein said early Wednesday in a separate post that the National Guard soldier “did not survive” after a second explosion occurred as he was evacuating people from the area following reports of the drone attack.

Of the seven wounded, five, including a five-year-old boy, were in serious condition, the acting governor said.

There were no military facilities nearby, he added.

Another Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Rylsk in Kursk wounded two people, according to Khinshtein.

In August 2024, Ukraine launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, seizing hundreds of square kilometres of territory in a major military setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack, but did not fully claim control of the region until April, almost nine months later.

Russia launched its military campaign against Ukraine in 2022 and has shown little willingness to end the conflict despite pressure from US President Donald Trump.

In Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, a woman was wounded and hospitalised after a Russian strike, Mykola Kalashnyk, head of the region’s military administration, said early Wednesday.