Two people have been killed and others wounded in a fresh exchange of attacks between Russia and Ukraine, according to reports carried by Qatar News Agency on Sunday 25 October. The reports underline how the war, now in its fifth year since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, continues to claim civilian lives on both sides of the border.

Belgorod and Kharkiv hit

In Russia's Belgorod region, the operational headquarters said a Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Belgorod killed one person and wounded ten, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik. In Ukraine, the national news agency Ukrinform reported that one person was killed and three others were wounded in a Russian drone strike on the city of Kharkiv. Each account comes from a party to the conflict or its state media, so the casualty figures have not been independently verified, and the two reports describe separate incidents rather than a single confirmed battle.

A war without a settlement

The exchange fits a long pattern of reciprocal drone and missile strikes, with each side reporting damage and casualties while disputing the other's account. Despite repeated diplomatic efforts, no comprehensive political settlement has been reached to end the war. For civilians in border cities such as Belgorod and Kharkiv, that means air alerts, damaged homes and disrupted services remain a daily reality. International attention has shifted repeatedly to other crises, but the fighting has not stopped, and the human cost continues to accumulate in small, grim daily totals rather than in single headline battles.

Sources: Qatar News Agency via Fana News