Ukraine strikes Russian border regions, Donetsk
STORY: :: WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
A Ukrainian missile struck a restaurant in the city of Donetsk killing three people, according to a Russian-installed local official on Saturday.
It was one of three separate Ukrainian drone and artillery strikes that also hit the Russian border regions of Belgorod and Kursk.
The strikes killed five people in all and several more were wounded, according to officials from those regions.
Donetsk, which fell under the control of Russian-backed separatists in 2014, regularly came under Ukrainian shelling after Moscow invaded the country in February of 2022.
But the city had been more secure after Ukrainian troops were forced from its outskirts earlier this year.
Both Belgorod and Kursk have come under regular attack since the war began.
Separately, a Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Luhansk region said the death toll from a missile strike that caused a large fire at an oil depot had risen to four, with many more injured.
:: File
Russia's defense ministry said earlier on Saturday that it had intercepted a string of attempted Ukrainian strikes on its territory, saying forces had downed 21 rockets and 16 drones across Russia's border regions.
Meanwhile, fierce fighting raged into a second day on the fringes of Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region on Saturday.
Russia said it had captured five villages in the region, while Ukraine said it was repelling the attacks and battling for control of the settlements.
