Drone Explodes on Russian Beach, Killing 7, Officials Say

Drone Explodes on Russian Beach, Killing 7, Officials Say - The New York Times

Skip to contentSkip to site index

Europe

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Today’s Paper

* Home
* + U.S.
+ International
+ Canada
+ Español
+ 中文

Russia-Ukraine War

* Ukraine’s Killer Robot Program
* Trump-Zelensky Relationship
* Attacks on Crimea
* Photos

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Supported by

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Drone Explodes on Russian Beach, Killing 7, Officials Say

It was unclear what the drone was targeting and why it crashed in the crowded resort spot, but it has been a deadly summer for civilians caught up in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Listen · 1:57 min

*
*
*

Video

Deadly Drone Explodes on Russian Beach

*A drone crashed into a beach in Russia on Monday, leaving at least 7 people dead, officials said.

Credit

Credit...

Social Media, via Reuters*

By

Zane Irwin

Published Aug. 3, 2026

Updated Aug. 4, 2026, 5:47 a.m. ET

See more of our coverage in your search results. Encuentra más de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de búsqueda. Add The New York Times on Google Agrega The New York Times en Google

Seven people were killed and 40 were wounded in an apparent drone explosion on a beach in southwestern Russia, the local authorities said Monday.

Videos on social media, and verified by The New York Times, showed a winged aircraft nose-diving onto the crowded Black Sea beach, exploding on impact and sending some bathers rushing back to shore.

Three children were among those killed, and 21 people were hospitalized, the regional emergency response team said in a statement.

The drone struck a resort in Arkhipo-Osipovka, a warm, rural Russian town that lies in the Krasnodar region. That area is close to Ukraine, and has experienced recent strikes during the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of the region, said Ukraine had been targeting civilians. “This cynical and inhumane terrorist attack against children cannot be justified,” Mr. Kondratyev said in a statement.

It was unclear what the drone had been targeting or why it crashed.

There has been no official statement from Ukraine on the drone explosion.

Russian airstrikes killed about 400 Ukrainian civilians last month, the most since 2022, as part of a summer-long campaign of large-scale aerial assaults. On Saturday, Russian airstrikes on Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, killed at least nine people.

Ukraine has waged its own long-range strike campaign against Russia. At first, it focused on military facilities and oil refineries, but it has gradually expanded its target list to include commercial infrastructure such as warehouses belonging to Wildberries, a Russian version of Amazon.

Zane Irwin

is an international reporter and a member of the 2026-27 Times Fellowship, a program for journalists early in their careers.

*
*
*

Related Content

*
*
*
*
*
*

*
*
*

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Advertisement

SKIP ADVERTISEMENT

Site Index

Site Information Navigation

* ©2026 The New York Times Company
* NYTCo
* Contact Us
* Accessibility
* Work with us
* Advertise
* T Brand Studio
* Privacy Policy
* Cookie Policy
* Terms of Service
* Terms of Sale
* Site Map
* Canada
* International
* Help
* Subscriptions
*
* California Notices