"Unfortunately, to our great grief, the number of those who have died in result of yesterday's strike at Belgorod has increased," said Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region of which Belgorod city is the administrative centre. The Belgorod region, which adjoins northern Ukraine, has like other Russian border zones suffered shelling and drone attacks all year that authorities have blamed on Ukraine, although none have previously been on such a scale.