Russian official says Ukraine shelled border town, killing one woman on her bike

MOSCOW, July 16 (Reuters) - The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had shelled the Russian town of Shebekino near the Ukrainian border with Grad missiles, killing a woman riding her bike.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine, which almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia. Reuters was not able to verify what happened.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, Belgorod's governor, said the Grad missiles had struck a market area, damaging a building and two cars.

"To much grief, one person was killed - a woman was riding a bicycle on the pavement at the time of the shelling. Injuries she received from shrapnel were incompatible with life," Gladkov said on the Telegram messaging app.

He said Ukrainian shelling of two other Belgorod settlements on Sunday caused no casualties but damaged three homes in Gorkovsky, and warehouses, a fence, a water tower and a power line at an agricultural enterprise in Ilek-Penkovka.

The Grad (Hail) weapons system is a truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher used by both Ukrainian and Russian forces. Its use against civilian areas is regarded as a war crime by human rights activists.

The town of Shebekino, about 5 km (3 miles) from the Ukrainian border, has been repeatedly targeted by what Russia says is indiscriminate shelling by Ukraine's armed forces.

Kyiv has accused Russian forces of indiscriminately shelling its civilian areas too. Both sides deny targeting civilians.

In May and June, the Belgorod region was rocked by fighting after militants from a pro-Ukrainian armed group made up of ethnic Russians crossed the border from Ukraine and battled with Russian security forces.