Two die at Moldovan border as Russia-Ukraine drone war rages

UPDATE - follow-up to Russia and Ukraine exchange strikes as two killed at Moldova border. A recent escalation in the conflict has resulted in two fatalities and a significant increase in drone strikes across both Ukraine and Russia. The Starokozache border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova has been closed following an attack that killed two people, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian capital Kyiv has also been targeted, with a woman killed and 14 people, including two children, injured after a Russian drone hit a nine-storey residential house. In Russia, four people, including a child, were killed in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in a Ukrainian drone attack, and a drone hit an industrial facility in the Arctic city of Novy Urengoy. Russia and Ukraine have recently stepped up long-range strikes, despite renewed diplomatic efforts to end the war. Ukrainian President Zelensky has renewed calls for international support, saying 'the aggression must be stopped here and now before it spreads any further'. The conflict has seen a significant increase in drone strikes, with Moldova reporting 17 drones struck on its territory in August alone, more than during the whole of last year. Prime Minister Vasile Tofan has expressed his country's concerns, stating 'those who ignore or downplay these threats - and refuse to name the aggressor - are denying reality'. The conflict began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russia's defence ministry has reported shooting down 596 Ukrainian drones overnight, but the situation remains fluid and volatile.