Five dead in Russian attacks in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region

June 5 (Reuters) – Russian attacks killed five people in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region in three separate incidents on Friday, the regional governor said.

Oleksandr Prokudin, writing on Telegram, said a strike on a district of the region’s main city, also called Kherson, killed three people in their 70s and 80s whose bodies were found in damaged homes.

An attack on a petrol station north of the city killed one person and injured seven, Prokudin said. And an evening drone strike killed a man in a village, also north of Kherson.

Kherson is one of four regions that were annexed by Russia six months after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Russian forces over-ran much of the region in the early stages of the invasion, but Ukrainian forces recaptured stretches of territory, including the city of Kherson. Ukrainian-held areas come under frequent Russian attack.

Over the border in Russia’s western Belgorod Region, a frequent Ukrainian target, a Ukrainian drone struck a car near the border, killing the driver, local officials said.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Himani Sarkar)