Two women have been killed in shelling by Ukrainian forces in the Russian border region of Belgorod, its governor has said.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Friday that two people had been killed and two others injured when Ukrainian forces shelled a road in the town of Maslova Pristan near the Ukrainian border.

“Fragments of the shells hit passing cars. Two women were traveling in one of them. They died from their injuries on the spot,” governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Two passengers in another car were injured, with one civilian hit with a shrapnel in the chest, and the other wounded in the legs, and both were hospitalized in serious condition.

In a separate statement, heads of two other Russian regions bordering Ukraine Kursk and Smolensk reported drone attacks.

Ukraine’s armed forces have reportedly unleashed a series of attacks on Russia's border regions in recent months, notably Bryansk and Belgorod, which were hit with drones and artillery, according to Moscow.

He added that nine people had been injured in the region in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, one of the most prominent anti-Kremlin paramilitary groups, the Liberty of Russia Legion (FRL), said it had been engaging in military operations in the nearby village of Novaya Tavolzhanka.

In a post on social media on Friday morning, it said two civilians had been killed after the Russian artillery mistook their vehicle for a car containing FRL members.

The FRL said "active fighting" continued on the outskirts of Novaya Tavolzhanka, admitting that there were injured "legionnaires".

Neither claim has been independently verified.

Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region, the local governor there said, while the Kaluga region's head said an explosion had been reported in a forest.

Recent weeks have seen an increase in cross border attacks by the FRL and the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK), another paramilitary group.

Last month, the two groups carried one of the most significant incursions - targeting the border towns of Shebekino and Grayvoron - since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Friday, Ukrainian officials said air defences had shot down about 30 missiles and drones fired by Russia - which has launched more than 20 missile and drone attacks against Ukraine over the past month.

Speaking from Helsinki on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "a strategic failure".

America's top diplomat was speaking during a visit to Finland, Nato's newest member, as part of a series of trips to Nordic countries.

He said the invasion had weakened Russia diplomatically, economically and militarily while strengthening the European Union, Nato and Ukrainian national identity.