The Starokozache border post, the main link between Ukraine and Moldova in the Odesa region, was closed after a drone strike that killed two people, Ukrainian authorities said, cutting traffic and checkpoints about 500km south of Kyiv. Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper reported two fatalities and three wounded, and images from the site showed scorched vehicles and debris across the crossing.
Moldova’s foreign ministry said a Moldovan driver was wounded at the post. The closure halts a daily conduit for people and goods between the two countries, and underscores growing spillover risk for Moldova, which has recorded multiple incursions in recent weeks.
Separately, the Russian port city of Novorossiysk was struck by drones overnight, regional governor Veniamin Kondratiev called the incident a "massive overnight enemy drone attack." He said four people were killed, including a child, and 29 were injured, with damage to apartment blocks, a church and a preschool.
Russia’s defence ministry released a tally saying its forces had shot down 596 Ukrainian drones overnight, a figure circulated as the two sets of strikes were reported. Moldova’s prime minister Vasile Tofan warned his country is increasingly caught in the fighting, noting 17 drones struck Moldovan territory in August, more than during the whole of last year. On social media he wrote, "Those who ignore or downplay these threats - and refuse to name the aggressor - are denying reality," and assigned responsibility for the war to Russia.
President Volodymyr Zelensky used the attack on the crossing to press for wider support, saying, "the aggression must be stopped here and now before it spreads any further." The incidents come amid a recent rise in long-range strikes even as diplomatic activity continues. Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump about efforts to end the conflict, following meetings in Moscow with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who then travelled to Kyiv for talks with Zelensky.
The immediate consequence is a sealed border point and heightened alarm in Chisinau and Odesa. The strikes will amplify Kyiv’s calls for international backing and make scheduling direct talks more fraught, while Moscow’s reported air-defence success will feed its justification for intensified countermeasures. Observers will watch whether the crossing remains closed and how the separate casualty claims affect diplomatic momentum in the coming days.
