The Russian Belgorod region bordering Ukraine was hit by strikes , leaving at least four people injured in the latest attacks in the area, Russian officials said.

“As a result of shelling in Belgorod, three people from the same family were injured,” regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov posted on Telegram  after visiting the family.

Two of them were hospitalised.

In a separate post, the governor said his administration recorded “damage in more than 20 homes” in the Belgorod region, and that “a grandpa suffered a concussion”.

Mr Gladkov posted photos of damage, smashed windows and craters after strikes in the city and in the region of Belgorod.

Around 16 explosions were recorded in the city of Belgorod, Russia’s investigative committee, which investigates serious crimes, said Sunday.

The city of 330,000, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Ukrainian border, had until recently rarely been hit, unlike the surrounding region.

The attacks come a day after an oil depot was hit in the same area.

Russia claimed an increase in artillery and missile strikes on its territories bordering Ukraine last week.

On Friday, strikes hit an electric substation in Belgorod, causing power cuts, after other strikes on Thursday.

On Saturday, two gunmen attacked a military training ground in the Belgorod region, killing 11 people who had volunteered to fight in Ukraine, in what Russia’s defence ministry said was a “terrorist” attack.