What happened in Belgorod Oblast and Kidal Region before 5 May 2026?
Two reported incidents, one in Russia's Belgorod Oblast and one in northern Mali, marked the days leading up to 5 May 2026.
What had happened in the days before 5 May 2026, and where? Two incidents, in different theatres of conflict, were reported in the preceding week.
On 29 April 2026, a Ukrainian drone strike hit a passenger bus in Voznesenovka, in Russia's Belgorod Oblast. Three people were killed and eight others were injured, as reported at the time.
On 1 May 2026, the jihadist group Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin took over a base outside Tessalit, in Mali's Kidal Region. The base had been abandoned by Malian troops and Russia's Africa Corps before the group moved in.
The two events belong to separate wars: the Russo-Ukrainian war and the conflict in Mali. Both, however, involved Russian forces or Russian territory, and both were reported in the days just before 5 May 2026.
