Drone strike on Russian resort beach kills seven, including three children

Deadly attack on Arkhipo-Osipovka beach

A drone hit a busy beach in southern Russia near the Black Sea village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, killing seven people, including three children, local authorities said. Krasnodar region governor Veniamin Kondratyev reported 40 people injured, with 17 hospitalised. He accused Ukraine of "a deliberate strike on civilians." Ukraine has not yet commented.

BBC-verified social media footage shows the drone hurtling toward a cliffside before crashing into a fireball on the beach below as tourists watched from the shore and water. Some Ukrainian Telegram channels claimed the drone came down due to electronic warfare jamming its signal. Russian media quoted eyewitnesses who said they heard gunfire before the explosion, suggesting air defences may have tried to shoot the drone down.

Residents and tourists told local outlets that no air-raid sirens had sounded before the attack. One holidaymaker said people covered themselves with sun loungers and did not see where it exploded. Another described hearing "gunfire, like a machine gun" followed by an explosion. A third visitor said it all happened in front of his children and that one child was having a nervous breakdown.

Wider context of the war

The attack highlights Ukraine's growing ability to carry out long-range strikes deep into Russia, hitting energy infrastructure and commercial warehouses it says serve military purposes. Over the weekend, eight people were killed in different Russian cities in such strikes. Russia, meanwhile, has continued its assaults on residential areas across Ukraine since launching its full-scale invasion in February 2022. On Saturday, at least nine people were killed and dozens wounded in Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A residential building in the Shevchenkivskyi district was partially destroyed, trapping people inside. Last week, a strike in the Kryvyi Rih area killed a family of ten.

Attacks on Wildberries warehouses

In recent weeks, Ukrainian strikes have particularly targeted distribution centres owned by Wildberries, a large online retailer dubbed the "Russian Amazon." The latest strike hit a warehouse in the Vladimir region, east of Moscow, overnight into Monday. Dozens of such warehouses across Russia have been hit. Kyiv says they are used to supply the Russian military, a claim Moscow denies. Until recently, Wildberries sold body armour and other military-related goods, alongside items with both civilian and drone-production applications.