The fresh Russian strikes come a day after an unprecedented attack on the city of Belgorod, and the two sides took turns accusing each other of pummelling civilian areas of their shared frontier region over the weekend.

The Ukrainian air force said in a statement on Telegram today that the overnight drones were particularly targeted at “the frontline of defence, as well as civilian, military, and infrastructure facilities in the frontline territories”.

It did not say whether the six missiles had hit their targets.

Oleg Sinegubov, the head of Kharkiv city’s military administration, said there had been 28 civilians wounded in the attack on the city.

The injured included two teenagers and a foreign citizen, he said.

The strike follows the deadliest attack on civilians in Russia since the start of the conflict in February 2022.

At least 22 people were killed and dozens more wounded yesterday in Belgorod, a Russian city just 30km from the border that has been repeatedly struck by what Moscow says is indiscriminate shelling.

Moscow said yesterday’s attack included the use of controversial cluster munitions and told an emergency meeting at the United Nations Security Council that Kyiv had targeted a sports centre, an ice rink, and a university.