How a day at the beach in Crimea turned to chaos after Ukrainian drone smashed into civilians and killed seven
Russia has said that seven people, including three children, were killed and 40 injured on a Crimea beach after a Ukrainian drone smashed into a busy holiday resort.
Another 40 people were injured after a drone crashed into the beach near the Black Sea town of Gelendzhik on Monday, in what Moscow claimed was a deliberate attack. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility and there is currently no evidence to suggest civilians were targeted.
It comes as Kyiv drives up its long-range attacks in Moscow, seeking to ramp up the pressure on Vladimir Putin to bring an end to his four-and-a-half year war.
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Kyiv, like Moscow – whose attacks on Ukraine have devastated cities and killed thousands of civilians – says it does not deliberately target civilians.
Ukraine says it does not deliberately target civilians. Moscow says the same, but its attacks frequently focus on major cities and civilian infrastructure.
Here’s everything we know about the incident.
Verified social media footage shows the moment the drone veered towards the beach before slamming into it, causing a large explosion and sending people fleeing from the water.
Russian officials said 21 people, including three children, were hospitalised and a specialist medical disaster team was dispatched to the scene of the explosion at the holiday village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, part of the wider Gelendzhik resort area.
Nine people were in a serious condition following the explosion, authorities said.
Tourists and residents told local media that there had been no sirens or warning of the attack, according to the BBC. “We covered ourselves with sun loungers, and didn’t see where it exploded,” one holidaymaker said.
“This all happened in front of my children. My child is having a nervous breakdown,” said another.
Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, which includes the resort, described the incident as a tragedy.
He said in a statement on Telegram said: “What happened today was a deliberate attack by the Kyiv regime on the civilian population, which has no connection whatsoever to military infrastructure.”
