Ukrainian drone strike on Russian beach kills three, including rescue worker and child

A Ukrainian drone strike on a beach in the Russian city of Kursk has killed at least three people, including a member of Russia’s National Guard, and left seven others injured, regional authorities reported early Wednesday.

According to Kursk’s acting governor, the drone attack appeared to target a popular recreational area often visited by families. Among the injured was a five-year-old child, with five of the seven wounded currently in serious condition in hospital.

Alexander Khinshtein, a senior Russian official, said one of the fatalities was a rescue worker who had arrived at the scene with colleagues following the initial strike. The National Guard senior sergeant reportedly began evacuating civilians from the area when a second drone exploded, fatally wounding him.

Russia’s defence ministry stated that its air defence forces had intercepted and destroyed 86 Ukrainian drones overnight across nine Russian regions, including 23 over Kursk.

Further damage was reported in the town of Rylsk, closer to the Ukrainian border, where another drone hit a hospital. The blast injured two people, shattered windows, and caused a fire on the roof, Khinshtein said.

Kursk and other Russian border regions have been increasingly targeted in drone and missile strikes as the war enters its fourth year. While both Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of attacking civilian areas, each denies intentionally targeting non-combatants. Civilian casualties on both sides continue to mount, with the vast majority reported in Ukraine.

The Kursk region experienced a major Ukrainian incursion nearly a year ago. Although the Kremlin claims that Kyiv’s forces were expelled from the area earlier this year, Ukrainian military sources suggest that limited operations are still being conducted within the region.

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