Burned-out cars mark the site of a Russian drone strike on a Ukraine-Moldova border crossing in the Odesa region in this handout picture released September 9, 2026. © State Emergency Service of Ukraine via Reuters

Russian drone strike near Ukraine-Moldova border kills at least two as Ukraine targets oil terminal

· France 24

Two civilians were killed in a Russian drone strike at a checkpoint on Ukraine's border with Moldova, the regional governor said Wednesday.

"Tonight, enemy drones attacked the Starokozache international road checkpoint on the border with Moldova," Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper wrote on social media.

"Sadly, there are casualties among the civilians who were near the checkpoint: according to preliminary information, two people were killed and three wounded."

Ukraine-Moldova border crossing checkpoint Starokozache in the aftermath of a Russian drone strike, in this handout picture released September 9, 2026. © State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, via Reuters

An image attached to Kiper's message showed a deserted border post littered with debris.

The attack forced the closure of the checkpoint located around 500 kilometres south of Kyiv, Ukraine's State Border Guard Service said.

A Moldovan driver was also injured in the attack, according to the country's foreign ministry.

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Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan on Wednesday said Russia's war against Ukraine was "increasingly endangering the lives of our citizens as well".

Tofan said 17 drones had hit Moldovan territory in August alone, more than during the whole of last year.

"The attacks have intensified so much," he said in a video of a cabinet meeting posted on Facebook. "It's becoming the norm, yet at the same time it's clearly an extremely worrying development."

Ukraine hits Russian oil terminal, naval base

Both Ukraine and Russia continued to exchange air strikes on each other's infrastructure.

Ukrainian ⁠forces ​struck ​targets in Russia's Black Sea port ​city ‌of ⁠Novorossiysk ‌and in the Krasnodar region, ⁠including a naval base ​and ‌a terminal for loading oil, ‌President Volodymyr ​Zelensky said on Wednesday.

Zelensky said ​military port ​facilities ​and warships allegedly carrying missiles ​had also been struck.

For its part, the ​Russian defence ​ministry said that its ​forces ‌had ⁠struck ‌a Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying ⁠what it alleged was military equipment in the ​Black Sea ‌en route to the port ‌of Odesa, ​as well as a warehouse in ​Kyiv ​belonging to a ​company manufacturing drones, ​Russian news agencies reported.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)