Ukrainian drone strikes kill two in former Olympics host city
Two women were killed and at least 11 people injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on the southern Russian city of Sochi, officials said Thursday.
According to Veniamin Kondratyev, the governor of Krasnodar Region, the women died when debris from a downed drone fell on Aviatsionnaya Street in the Adler district. “Both women died from their injuries at the scene,” he wrote on Telegram.
The drone strikes also damaged a local oil terminal in the nearby Sirius district, a sprawling resort zone that includes parts of Sochi’s former Olympic Park and now serves as a popular tourist destination. The area hosted the winter games in 2014 and now features many luxury hotels, including two operated by Belgium’s Radisson.
The head of Sirius, Dmitry Plishkin, confirmed that one drone had hit an oil facility on Tavricheskaya Street. Governor Kondratyev later added that “drone fragments also struck the oil terminal.”
Among the 11 wounded was a traffic police officer who is being airlifted to a regional hospital, the governor said. Four people in total were hospitalized.
Local media and Telegram channels reported more than a dozen explosions in different areas, with footage showing air defense systems engaging multiple targets. Students and hotel guests in Sirius were temporarily moved to underground shelters and parking garages.
The attack came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian officials concluded another round of negotiations in Istanbul. Moscow proposed a limited ceasefire to allow the evacuation of wounded troops and the recovery of the dead, as well as a large-scale prisoner exchange involving at least 1,200 captured soldiers from each side.
