A drone attack on a popular beach resort in southern Russia has killed seven people, including three children, and injured 40 others, according to local authorities.

The incident occurred near the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka on the Black Sea coast, a destination favored by Russian tourists, especially since international travel has become more restricted. Social media footage verified by the BBC shows a drone descending rapidly before exploding in a fireball on the beach, where tourists were present in the water and on the shore.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the Krasnodar region, stated that 17 of the injured were hospitalized. He accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians, a claim that Ukraine has not yet addressed. Both Russia and Ukraine have previously denied intentionally targeting civilians, though both have accused each other of such actions.

The exact target of the drone remains unclear. Some Ukrainian Telegram channels have suggested the drone may have crashed due to signal jamming from electronic warfare. Eyewitness accounts reported by Russian media mentioned hearing gunfire, possibly from air defense systems attempting to intercept the drone, before the explosion.

Residents and holidaymakers in Arkhipo-Osipovka told local media that no air raid sirens sounded before the attack. One witness described covering themselves with sun loungers, unaware of where the explosion occurred. Another recounted hearing machine-gun fire followed by a blast, while a third expressed distress over their child's reaction to the event.

This incident occurs amidst a backdrop of escalating long-range strikes by Ukraine into Russian territory. In recent months, Ukraine has increasingly targeted energy infrastructure and commercial warehouses it claims are used for military purposes. These strikes have, on occasion, resulted in civilian casualties.

Over the past weekend, eight people were killed in separate incidents across different Russian cities. Russia, in turn, has continued its own aerial bombardments of Ukrainian cities and residential areas since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, causing thousands of civilian deaths and injuries.

Earlier this month, Russian ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv killed at least nine people and injured dozens, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. A residential building in the capital was partially destroyed, trapping individuals inside. In another incident last week, a family of 10 was killed in a strike on a building in Ukraine's Kryvyi Rih area.