Ukrainian drones damage hospital, homes in Russia's Kursk, official says

(Reuters) -Ukrainian drones launched a night-time attack on Russia's western Kursk region, damaging a hospital and apartment buildings and injuring at least one person, the regional governor said early on Friday.

Across the border in Ukraine's Sumy region, the regional governor reported fresh fighting in villages near the border where Russia has been seizing territory. He said various areas in his region were constantly changing hands.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he wants to create a buffer zone in Sumy, which was used to help launch Ukraine's incursion into Kursk last year.

In the Kursk region, where Russia's military says Ukrainian forces who staged the incursion last August have been ejected, Governor Alexander Khinshtein said Ukrainian drones swarmed the main town, also called Kursk.

"Drone fragments damaged the No. 1 city hospital in Kursk. Windows were smashed. Fortunately, no patients were injured," Khinshtein wrote on the Telegram messaging app. "Falling drone fragments have also damaged high-rise apartment buildings."

Ukraine's military says its forces remain active in small areas of Kursk region.

Authorities in Sumy region, under constant Russian attack for months, acknowledged this week that Russian forces were in control of at least four villages near the border.

"Active battles continue in certain border areas, notably around the settlements of Khotyn and Yunakivka," Governor Oleh Hryhorov wrote on Facebook.

"The situation on the line of contact is constantly changing. In some places, we hold the initiative, in others the enemy is proving to be active."

Russia's Defence Ministry on Thursday said its forces had captured three more villages as it slowly advances through parts of eastern Ukraine.

These were Stroivka in northeastern Kharkiv region, where Moscow has long been applying pressure, and Shevchenko Pershe and Hnativka near the town of Pokrovsk, the focal point of Russia's westward drive for months.

Ukrainian military reports have made no acknowledgement of any of the three villages coming under Russian control. A statement on Thursday evening said Russian forces had launched 53 attacks over 24 hours near Pokrovsk.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Bogdan Kochubey; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)