Three days after Ukrainian drone strike on Gelendzhik beach, victims begin to emerge
On August 3, a Ukrainian drone crashed and exploded on a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka near Gelendzhik, killing seven people, including four children, and injuring 40. Meduza has gathered what is known about the victims and survivors.
Three days after the attack, little is known about the dead and wounded. Local residents and tourists say they heard no sirens, although the village has a warning system. People were on the beach and in the water at the time and were not evacuated.
Among the dead is five-year-old Sonya from the settlement of Maisky, part of the city of Shakhty in Russia's Rostov region. She had turned five in June. She was on the beach with her mother, Yekaterina, who is now in moderate condition after undergoing eye surgery and sustaining a leg wound. Sonya was seriously injured and died shortly afterward in the hospital. Yekaterina is expected to remain hospitalized in Gelendzhik for at least a week.
Journalists have reported that Yekaterina is raising five children on her own. Sonya is survived by two older brothers, a younger brother who attended the same preschool group, and an older sister. Sonya's godparents, Alexei and Oksana, were vacationing with them along with their younger son, Maxim, who was also killed. Maxim's parents remain in serious condition and have not been told that their son died. Oksana sustained shrapnel wounds to her leg; Alexei's injuries are unknown. The couple also has an older son.
Yulia, a local resident whose son attends the same kindergarten as Sonya, said Sonya really wanted to go to the sea. She reportedly told her teacher, "Can you imagine, we're going to the sea, my mom is taking me!" Yulia launched a fundraiser after the tragedy and collected more than 300,000 rubles within a day, with the money split evenly between the two families.
Sonya's funeral took place on August 6 in Shakhty and drew more than 50 mourners.
Another victim is a nurse named Nadezhda from the city of Lomonosov, part of St. Petersburg. She worked with children, giving them therapeutic massage, and had come to Gelendzhik on vacation. Nadezhda died in the hospital on the morning of August 4.
Eleven-year-old Vera from Armavir in Krasnodar Krai was injured in the attack and is being treated at a hospital in Gelendzhik. She had been vacationing on the beach with her parents and brothers when the strike hit; her mother shielded her younger son with her own body. Vera was thrown toward the sea and lost consciousness, sustaining shrapnel wounds. She was transferred from the hospital in Arkhipo-Osipovka to Gelendzhik, where doctors placed her in a medically induced coma, put her on a ventilator, and operated to remove shrapnel from her chest. She is now being prepared for transport to Moscow.
