Ukrainian attack on Russian-occupied town kills 2 - Russian state media

MOSCOW — Ukraine attacked a Russian-occupied town in the southern Kherson region on Monday, killing two people and wounding more than a dozen others, Russian state media reported.

The region's Moscow-installed governor said Ukrainian forces had fired "cluster munitions" near a school in the town of Bekhtery when students and teachers were on their way to lessons and that children were among the wounded.

Both Russia and Ukraine have ramped up hostilities in recent months, trying to secure the upper hand in the almost three-year conflict ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration later on Monday.

The attack came as Russian forces advanced further in east Ukraine. 

The Russian defence ministry said they had captured two more villages, including one just a few kilometres from the Ukrainian-held supply hub of Pokrovsk.

It said its army units "liberated" Shevchenko, around three kilometres from Pokrovsk, as well as Novoyegorivka in the eastern Lugansk region.

Russia accelerated its advances in Ukraine last year, capturing seven times more territory in 2024 than in 2023, according to an AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War.

Moscow is also pressing into the hilltop city of Chasiv Yar, a frontline stronghold whose capture would allow it to drive deeper into the Donetsk region.

 Attack on Bekhtery 

At least 19 people were wounded in the attack on Bekhtery, Russia's RIA news agency reported, citing the press service of Moscow installed-governor Vladimir Saldo.

Among those injured were "two children", both of whom are in a serious condition, Saldo said on Telegram earlier.

Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of firing on civilian areas far behind the front lines throughout the conflict, a claim they both deny.

Russia said on Monday it had shot down 31 Ukrainian drones, which mainly targeted industrial sites.

In the Kaluga region flanking Moscow, debris from a downed drone sparked a fire at a business but it was quickly put out, regional governor Vladislav Shapsha said.

Fire-fighters in the south-western Voronezh region were on Monday still battling a blaze at an oil depot attacked by Ukrainian drones five days earlier, local governor Alexander Gusev said.