Crimea: Five killed by missile fragments over swimmers on a beach in the region

At least five people were killed and more than 100 others injured when swimmers were showered with missile fragments during a Ukrainian strike on a beach near Sevastopol in Russia-controlled Crimea, authorities said.

“Unfortunately, we currently have 124 victims, including three [είναι] Two dead children [είναι] “The dead adults,” Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozaev told Telegram.

The Russian Defense Ministry said in a post on Telegram that Ukraine carried out the attack using “US-supplied tactical operational ATACMS missiles equipped with cluster warheads.”

The publication added that Russian air defenses shot down four missiles, but another missile “deviated from its flight path at the last stop due to its collision with the air defenses, and the warhead exploded in the air above the city.”

Video posted on X website shows the aftermath of the strike, with injured civilians seen being carried off the beach on stretchers. Beachgoers, some still in their swimsuits, are seen evacuating the area.

Among the victims killed in the Ukrainian raid was the daughter of Oleg Avrianov, the deputy mayor of Magadan. Yuri Grisan, mayor of Magadan, said that Averyanov’s daughter, Sofia, was nine years old and was vacationing with her parents in Sevastopol.

The losses were due in part to the timing of the strike, which came “when citizens were either returning from work or had already gone to the beach with their children,” according to Governor Razvozaev, who declared a day of mourning.

According to witnesses, there were no air raid sirens to warn of the attack, CNN reported.

Many local residents also took to the comments section of official posts to express their dismay at the failure of air raid sirens to warn them of an impending attack.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that “such actions will not go unanswered,” holding Washington responsible for the attack.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is in constant contact with the authorities in Sevastopol, adding that the Russian government’s priority is to provide all necessary assistance to the victims, the RIA news agency reported.

Crimea has been under Russian occupation since its forces annexed the peninsula in 2014.

Since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, it has been subjected to sporadic attacks by Ukrainian forces. Kiev has previously insisted that its strikes in Crimea, targeting Russian naval bases and ships, are an integral part of its strategy to try to isolate the peninsula. It makes it difficult for Russia to continue its military operations in the Ukrainian hinterland, a Ukrainian source familiar with Kiev’s strategy told CNN last year.

Before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Sevastopol – the largest city in Crimea – was a popular tourist destination for Russians. Even after the outbreak of war, Russians continued to flock to the port city despite the dangers.

Source: CNN