At least five injured in Ukrainian attack on Russia's Belgorod region

At least five people have been injured in a Ukrainian attack on the southern Russian region of Belgorod, according to Governor Vyakheslav Gladkov on Saturday.

Gladkov said several grenades hit a section of road between Belgorod and Shebekino, injuring four people and damaging several vehicles.

In the nearby village of Voznesenkovka, a woman was reportedly injured when a drone struck a residence, though the information could not be independently verified.

The Ukrainian army has started using artillery and drones to target sites across the border in the southern Russian region of Belgorod, after Moscow's forces launched an offensive against the north-eastern city of Kharkiv in the summer.

Russia also regularly targets civilian sites in Ukraine, with Kharkiv among the cities most frequently subject to shelling, just 30 kilometres from the border.

Kiev repels Russian drone attacks

Earlier, Russia again launched overnight drone attacks at targets across Ukraine, deploying some 70 unmanned aerial vehicles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram on Saturday.

The areas of Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Kherson, Kharkiv and Donetsk as well as the greater Kiev area were targeted in the attacks, most of which were repelled, he said.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported having shot down 72 of 76 Russian drones launched overnight, without providing details on possible damages or casualties.

Significant damage was mainly reported from the Black Sea region of Odessa.

In a suburb of the regional capital, several buildings, including a residential building, were damaged by drone debris, military governor Oleh Kiper wrote on Telegram.

In the district of Izmail, a hub for grain shipments, storage buildings were hit.

A municipal company was hit by falling debris in Kiev, but a fire did not break out, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

Ukraine has been defending itself against a full-scale Russian invasion for more than two and a half year, relying heavily on military aid supplied by Western partners.

The government in Kiev has repeatedly called on Western allies to increase support and send more air defence systems to protect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure against the constant Russian bombardment.

Russian, Ukrainian prisoners exchanged

Russia and Ukraine also held a major exchange of prisoners, with both sides swapping more than 100 captured soldiers.

The Russian Defence Ministry said 103 of its military personnel were in Belarus to receive "necessary psychological and medical assistance" before returning home.

Moscow thanked the United Arab Emirates for mediating in the case.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram that 82 soldiers and 21 officers were released by Russia, including members of the country's army, border guards and police officers.

According to Zelensky, many of the Russian prisoners had been captured during Ukraine's surprise cross-border offensive in Kursk.

The latest exchange came one day after Zelensky announced a further swap involving 49 Ukrainians.

Ukraine and Russia have exchanged prisoners of war on more than 50 occasions since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.