At least seven people, including three children, have been killed after a Ukrainian drone crashed onto a popular beach on the Russian Black Sea coast, according to Russian authorities. The incident occurred near the town of Gelendzhik on Monday, leaving another 40 people injured. Footage on social media shows the moment the drone veered towards the beach before slamming into it and causing a large explosion, which sent people fleeing from the water.
Officials said 17 people were rushed to the hospital following the incident, and a specialist medical disaster team had been dispatched to the scene of the explosion. Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, described the incident as a tragedy. He stated on Telegram that the incident was a deliberate attack by the Kyiv regime on the civilian population, which has no connection whatsoever to military infrastructure.
Ukraine has not issued a statement on the attack, but its military has repeatedly said it does not deliberately target civilians. The attack took place near a £1bn complex between Arkhipo-Osipovka and Gelendzhik, which has been dubbed as ‘Putin’s palace’. A 2021 investigation by late opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation linked the development to Vladimir Putin, but the Russian leader has denied any ownership.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of resorting to terrorism. In a separate incident, three civilians were also killed in an overnight ‘enemy attack’ on the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, according to Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-installed governor of Crimea. A separate drone attack on Monday caused a fire to break out at one of Russian online retailer Wildberries’ warehouses in the Vladimir region, which has been repeatedly targeted in recent weeks.
Officials said a young man sustained a non-life-threatening head injury and was taken to hospital following the attack. The incidents come as Russia has repeatedly struck civilian targets in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities since its invasion in 2022. On Saturday, Russia launched ballistic missiles on Kyiv, killing nine people and injuring 28, including four children.
A residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was partially destroyed in the attack, according to Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko. Condemning the attack, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X: ‘Russians launched 35 missiles at Ukraine, including 27 ballistic missiles, as well as 185 attack drones of various types. Kyiv was the primary target, but strikes also hit the Dnipro, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Poltava regions.’ ’Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot systems.
And it is this shortage of ballistic missile interceptors that only encourages Russia to launch such attacks that take human lives.’ On Monday, Sweden’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Russia’s top diplomat in Stockholm to protest Moscow’s attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.
