Russian Sabotage Group Shoots Dead Brother and Sister In Border Village

A Russian sabotage group has “brutally and cynically” shot dead a brother and sister in the village of Andriivka in the Sumy region, authorities have said.

The Regional Military Administration said the killings occurred on Saturday morning.

“Sumy. This morning, an enemy reconnaissance and sabotage group brutally and cynically shot a brother and sister from Khotyn community,” the Regional Administration said in a post on Telegram.

Later on Saturday, Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General said the deceased were a 54-year-old man who was driving along with his 68-year-old sister.

An investigation has been launched into the shootings.

Though infrequent, such cross-border attacks and incursions by guerilla-style fighters have been recorded throughout the nearly two-year war.

Russian authorities have also accused Ukrainian groups of armed raids into towns and villages on its side of the border, killing civilians.

Andriivka is located close to the Russian border. Authorities have urged people in a 5-kilometer border zone to evacuate.

“Once again, I appeal to the residents of the 5-kilometer zone with a request for evacuation,” Volodymyr Artiukh, head of Sumy Regional Military Administration said.

“This process has been going on for months, and assistance is provided at every stage. Russian terrorists continue to kill civilians.

“By evacuating from dangerous territories, you will save your life.”

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At least three other civilians were killed in Russian attacks in the east and south of the country, AFP reports.

In Beryslav, which sits on the Dnipro river in the southern Kherson region, explosives dropped from a drone killed one person, the governor said. 

And two were killed by Russian artillery shelling in the eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine's national police said in a statement.

There was no comment from Moscow, which has repeatedly denied targeting civilians, despite widespread evidence of attacks on residential areas and the United Nations saying at least 10,000 civilians – likely many more – have been killed since Russia invaded.

Moscow claims to have annexed both the Kherson and Donetsk regions, even though its forces do not have full control over either of them.