KYIV (AFP) — Four people were wounded by Russian strikes on the east Ukrainian region of Kharkiv, officials said Wednesday, as Moscow said it had downed a barrage of Ukrainian rockets.

The Kharkiv region borders Russia and has been under persistent shelling since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with recent bombardments there leaving thousands without power.

Its governor Oleg Sinegubov said on social media that three men and one woman all over the age of 50 were injured in separate strikes on towns and villages in the region with artillery and rockets.

The Ukrainian air force said separately that Russian forces had launched 13 Iranian-designed attack drones at Ukraine overnight and that 10 were downed over the Kharkiv region, the neighboring Sumy region and near the capital Kyiv.

Russia meanwhile announced that its air defense systems had shot down 18 rockets near the border city of Belgorod, which has recently seen an uptick in fatal Ukrainian attacks.

The Belgorod governor said one person was wounded during the barrage.