Μake us preferred on Google Russia announced that seven people, including three children, were killed and 40 injured at the Black Sea tourist resort of Gelendzhik, in what Moscow described as a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians.
There was no immediate response from Ukraine, which, like Russia, maintains it does not deliberately target civilians in the full-scale war Moscow launched in 2022.
Videos circulating on social media and verified by Reuters appear to show a drone striking a crowded area near the Gelendzhik beach, setting off a powerful explosion.
The governor of the southern Krasnodar region, where Gelendzhik is located, Veniamin Kondratyev, called the incident a tragedy. There are also reports the drone was shot down before reaching its target, sending debris falling onto the beach.
Moscow’s Response Turns Sharp
“What happened today was a deliberate attack by the Kyiv regime on the civilian population, which has absolutely nothing to do with military infrastructure,” Kondratyev said in a statement on Telegram.
A special disaster medical team rushed to the site of the explosion in the settlement of Arkhipo-Osipovka, part of the wider Gelendzhik tourist area, local authorities said.
Russia’s Health Ministry said 21 people, including three children, were taken to hospitals, with nine of the injured in serious condition.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of resorting to terrorism, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
Russian Strikes on Ships in the Black Sea
Separately, according to the Russian news agency RIA, citing the Defense Ministry, the Russian military struck two ships at the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv and two others in the Black Sea that were being used to transport military equipment for Ukraine’s armed forces.
