Border regions under pressure: the days before 18 May 2026

What did the border regions of Russia and Ukraine look like on 18 May 2026? The picture was set by the days just before it, when drones crossed the frontier in both directions and pressure on regional leadership was visible on the Russian side.

On 12 May, Russian drone strikes hit Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine. Six people were killed and seven others injured, among them a nine-month-old child. The same day, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the military had attacked several gas facilities in Orenburg Oblast, Russia.

Changes at the top in border oblasts

On 13 May, Russian president Vladimir Putin replaced the governors of two border regions, as cross-border attacks continued. In Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov made way for army general Alexander Shuvaev. In Bryansk Oblast, Alexander Bogomaz was replaced by Yegor Kovalchuk, described as a former occupation official.

A large drone attack

On 17 May, the day before the covered date, Ukrainian forces launched a massive drone attack on Russia. At least four people were killed, and strikes were reported in Moscow and Belgorod Oblast. The attack came after Russia had faced its largest attack in more than a year.

The Belgorod strikes landed just days after the region's governor had been replaced, so the new appointee faced the consequences of the war almost at once.

Drone warfare, the use of remote-controlled or partly autonomous unmanned systems, shaped each of these events. By 18 May 2026, strikes in this form had reached from Orenburg Oblast to Moscow, and from Kryvyi Rih to the Belgorod border region.