Three Ukrainian border guards killed in Russian attack

Three Ukrainian border guards were killed in a Russian attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Ukraine's official Ukrinform news agency reported on Friday.

Oleksandr Starukh, head of the Zaporizhia Regional State Administration, told reporters that the soldiers died as a result of the attack by the Russian army on the Prymorsky Posad border unit last night.

"Unfortunately, there were casualties at night. In the Melitopol district on the coast, a strike was launched on our border outpost. The lives of three heroes, our defenders, were lost. The situation is difficult around the city of Melitopol. This day will be difficult,” he said.

Earlier this morning, it was reported that a missile attack hit the Primorsky Posad border unit in the Zaporizhia region.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Ukraine's regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed that Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.