Russia says seven killed and 40 injured by Ukrainian drone hitting busy beach
Three children were killed when the drone crashed at a popular resort on the Black Sea.
A Ukrainian drone strike on a bustling beach in southern Russia has resulted in seven fatalities, including three children, and left 40 people injured, according to local authorities.
Footage verified by the BBC from social media shows a drone hurtling towards a cliffside before erupting in a fireball on the beach below, as tourists watched from the shore and water. Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region, confirmed that 17 of the injured have been hospitalized. He characterized the incident as "a deliberate strike on civilians" by Ukraine, though Ukraine has not issued a comment. Both nations deny intentionally targeting civilians.
The drone's intended target remains unclear. Some Ukrainian Telegram channels have suggested the drone crashed onto the beach due to electronic warfare jamming its signal. Russian media quoted several eyewitnesses who reported gunfire preceding the explosion, indicating a possible attempt by air defenses to shoot down the drone.
The incident occurred on a beach near Arkhipo-Osipovka, a village on the Black Sea. This area is a popular holiday spot for Russians, known for its warm climate, extensive beaches, and developed tourist infrastructure, especially since international travel restrictions have impacted many Russians.
Tourists and residents in Arkhipo-Osipovka informed local media that no sirens sounded before the drone attack. One holidaymaker recounted, "We covered ourselves with sun loungers, and didn't see where it exploded." Another individual, while not seeing the drone hit, heard "gunfire, like a machine gun" followed by an explosion. A third person expressed distress, stating, "This all happened in front of my children. My child is having a nervous breakdown."
Over the past year, Ukraine has increasingly succeeded in executing long-range strikes deep within Russia, targeting energy infrastructure and commercial warehouses it claims are used for military purposes. These strikes have occasionally led to civilian casualties, with eight people killed in various Russian cities over the weekend.
Conversely, Russia has conducted attacks on residential areas and cities since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, causing thousands of civilian deaths and injuries. On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv killed at least nine people and injured dozens. The city's mayor stated that a residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was partially destroyed, trapping individuals inside. Last week, a strike on a building in Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih area claimed the lives of a family of 10.
In recent weeks, Ukrainian strikes have specifically targeted warehouses belonging to Wildberries, a major online retailer often referred to as the "Russian Amazon." The latest strike, overnight into Monday, hit a warehouse in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow. Numerous Wildberries warehouses across Russia, many thousands of kilometers from the Ukrainian border, have now been impacted. Kyiv asserts that Wildberries depots are used to supply the Russian military, a claim Moscow denies. However, the platform until recently sold various military-related goods, such as body armor, alongside items with both civilian and drone-production applications.