The Russian border region has faced some of the most intense attacks over the past week, according to officials.

Children are among the mounting casualties of Ukraine’s intensifying drone campaign against Russia’s Belgorod Region, where a hospital has treated several young victims.

Kiev has escalated long- and mid-range strikes on Russia in recent months. The campaign has killed at least 43 civilians, including four children, and wounded more than 400 others over the past week, according to Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik. Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkov regions, has been among the areas hardest hit.

In an exclusive report, a hospital in the region treated over 260 children for serious injuries since Ukrainian attacks intensified there, including patients who have required amputations.

The youngest patient is Ulyana, a two-and-a-half-year-old child recovering from a leg injury.

Another young patient, Vladimir, described multiple wounds: “My legs, arms, torso, and head were stitched up,” he said. “It was scary when I was lying in the ambulance. And they kept telling us: ‘It’s coming.’ And then it hit us like a lightning bolt.”

Belgorod’s chief educational psychologist, Ekaterina Viktorova, emphasized that helping children understand they have a future is crucial for recovery from such life-altering injuries.

“When a child realizes they’re not stuck in the day they were injured but continue to live, this is the next step toward recovery,” she stated.

Belgorod Governor Aleksandr Shuvaev reported over 7,000 Ukrainian drone attacks on his region in June alone. At the current rate of escalation, that figure could reach 12,000, he warned.