Russia says Ukrainian drone attack on holiday-makers killed seven, including 3 children

A drone attack on a beach in southern Russia has killed seven people, including three children, and injured 40 others. The attack occurred in the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka, a popular holiday destination on the Black Sea. According to the governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, the drone was a deliberate strike on civilians by Ukraine.

The drone crashed into the beach, causing a fireball, as tourists looked on from the shore and in the water. Some eyewitnesses reported hearing gunfire before the explosion, suggesting that air defenses may have tried to shoot the drone down. However, no sirens sounded ahead of the attack, and tourists and residents were caught off guard.

The incident is part of an uptick in civilian deaths in the conflict, with the UN reporting an increase in recent months. Ukraine has not commented on the attack, but some Ukrainian Telegram channels have claimed that the drone crashed due to electronic warfare that jammed its signal. The Black Sea coast and Crimea are popular summer destinations for Russian tourists, and the attack has highlighted the ongoing risks of the conflict.

Brief written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia, BBC News, Free Malaysia Today, New Voice of Ukraine — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.