Russian drone attack on Sumy kills two, injures 12, local authorities say

KYIV (Reuters) -A Russian drone attack on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy killed two people and injured 12 on Friday morning, regional authorities said.

Twelve apartment buildings, five private residences, a store and three cars were damaged after three drones attacked the city around 5 a.m. (0300 GMT), the national police said.

Volodymyr Artiukh, Sumy regional governor, said Russian forces had equipped drones with shrapnel for the attack on a densely populated area of the city.

"This weapon is used... exclusively (to kill) people," Artiukh said, pointing to scars on a damaged building. "Not for a facility, but in order to destroy more people."

The video posted by Sumy regional military administration following the attack showed damaged cars and buildings with blown-out windows.

Russia has pummelled the region and its critical infrastructure in deadly attacks over the past weeks.

An overnight drone attack on Tuesday on the small town of Hlukhiv in the region killed 12 people, including a child.

On Sunday evening, a missile attack on Sumy killed 11 and injured 89 more people, in addition to leaving the region's administrative centre without power.

(Reporting by Anastasiia MalenkoEditing by Tom Hogue and Gareth Jones)