Russian drone attacks kill seven in northern regions, Ukraine says

Near Kupiansk, where Russian forces have been active in Ukraine's northeast, a Russian drone hit a vehicle carrying farm workers, killing two, the Kharkiv regional governor said. Further south in Donetsk region, a Russian missile attack injured six people in a residential area of Kramatorsk, prosecutors said.

(Recasts with drone attacks in north and northeastern Ukraine, missile strike in east) Feb 20 (Reuters) -

Russian drone attacks on Tuesday killed five family members in Ukraine's north and two people in a car in the northeast region, local authorities said. A Russian missile attack targeted a residential area in a major eastern city, injuring six, local officials said.

A Lancet-type drone hit a residential building in northern Sumy region in the morning, killing a mother, her two sons and two other relatives, the regional military administration said on the Telegram messenger app. Near Kupiansk, where Russian forces have been active in Ukraine's northeast, a Russian drone hit a vehicle carrying farm workers, killing two, the Kharkiv regional governor said.

Further south in Donetsk region, a Russian missile attack injured six people in a residential area of Kramatorsk, prosecutors said. The town is a frequent Russian target close to the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line. Prosecutors said one person might have been trapped under rubble.

Reuters was unable to verify the Ukrainian accounts independently. Ukraine's military had earlier said that Russia launched 23 Shahed drones overnight and its air defences had destroyed all of them, including over the central Poltava region.

But the head of the regional military administration in Poltava said an industrial facility caught fire after a drone attack overnight on the Kremenchuk district, where an oil refinery is located.