<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Ukrainian drone dropped explosives on a substation in a Russian village close to the border on Friday, cutting off the power supply to a hospital, the regional governor said.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Belaya, less than 25 kilometres (16 miles) from the border, "a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation", Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoyt said on the messaging platform Telegram.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were cut off from power supply. Fire crews rushed to the scene," he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Power will be restored as soon as it is safe to do so."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russia earlier said it had destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the neighbouring Belgorod region.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The defence ministry said the first drone was "thwarted" at about 5:00pm (1400 GMT) on Thursday.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A second drone was brought down around four hours later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"The Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle was destroyed over Belgorod region by air defence systems on duty," the ministry said on Telegram.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Belgorod and Kursk, south of Moscow, border eastern Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in early June, Russia has weathered waves of drone attacks that have sporadically damaged buildings, including in Moscow.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian officials have downplayed their significance. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>