At least four civilians have been killed a day after a similar deadly strike on a market in Kherson Region

At least a dozen people were killed or injured in a Ukrainian missile strike on a small shopping center on Monday evening, according to Kursk Region's acting governor, Aleksandr Khinstein.

The latest reports indicate that the death toll from the strike on the Dobrynya shopping center in the Belaya settlement of the Belovsky district has risen to four. The victims include two women, aged 65 and 36, a 39-year-old man, and an 18-year-old. Another nine people, including four teenagers aged 13 to 14, sustained injuries of varying severity.

"The crime of the Ukrainian junta was inhumane in its cynicism and cruelty," Khinstein wrote on Telegram, noting that the attack occurred just as "people came shopping after work."

Local doctors are doing "everything possible and impossible" to help the victims, while those with the most serious wounds will be airlifted to the regional clinical hospital, the official added.

The attack comes a day after the Ukrainian military launched two HIMARS rockets at a local market in the town of Veliky Kopani in Russia's Kherson Region. According to regional governor Vladimir Saldo, Ukrainian forces "deliberately targeted" civilians, killing three people, including a 15-year-old, and injuring eight others.

Initial reports suggest that Kiev's forces used the same HIMARS rockets in the strike on Kursk, although the Russian Defense Ministry has yet to confirm details of the projectiles used.

Kiev has been receiving M142 HIMARS and its heavier tracked counterpart, the M270 MLRS, from the US and other Western backers since mid-2022. Initially touted as a key tool for striking high-value Russian assets, these systems have routinely been used by Kiev for strikes on civilian targets deep beyond the frontline.