On a quiet Monday near the Russian resort town of Gelendzhik, people were sunbathing and paddling when a drone erupted from the skies, hurtling downwards to explode on the sand. Videos circulating online showed holidaymakers watching with faces to the sky as the drone came down, and wading out of the sea as plumes of smoke rose.
At least seven people, including three children, were reported to have been killed and 40 injured in the attack, which Russia has blamed on Ukraine. It is not clear what the drone was targeting or whether it had veered off course due to a malfunction, direction error or electronic warfare, which can interfere with the signal between drone and controller. Ukraine has not commented on the incident but has repeatedly said it does not target civilians.
The beach blast was the latest in a wave of explosions inside Russia designed to hit the Kremlin where it hurts. In recent weeks, Ukraine has targeted logistics hubs and energy sites, with a series of strikes on warehouses belonging to Wildberries, Russia’s version of Amazon, and now reportedly targeting its second-largest e-commerce company, Ozon.
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Eight people were killed in Russia during separate drone attacks over the weekend. Russia has also blamed Ukraine for a bomb attack on a restaurant in Moscow that killed five people, with speculation the target was a senior Russian military commander reportedly celebrating his birthday, but this has not been confirmed.
