One dead in latest drone attacks on Russia

One person died and six others were wounded on Thursday in a Russian region bordering Ukraine, as Russia faced a third night of drone attacks on its territory, officials said.

The defence ministry said that 14 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight, the latest wave of attacks on Russian territory ahead of presidential elections on March 15-17 expected to hand President Vladimir Putin another six years in power.

"A civilian was killed. A man was traveling in a car when a shell hit the engine. He died of his wounds on the spot," the Belgorod regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

He added that "six people were injured" including four women and two men.

The strikes also damaged two houses and a medical facility, he said.

The defence ministry said in a statement that 11 drones were shot down over the Belgorod region overnight and three over the region of Kursk.

Dozens of Ukrainian drones targeted several Russian regions this week including oil refineries hundreds of kilometres from the frontline, in the regions of Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Leningrad.

Putin said the wave of attacks were part of efforts to disrupt the elections.

Kyiv meanwhile said Russian forces had launched 36 Iranian-designed attack drones at targets across Ukraine and its defence systems downed 22 of them.