A UKRAINIAN drone targeted a busy beach in southern Russia on Monday, killing seven people, including three children, according to local authorities.

Social media footage showed a drone hurtling towards a cliffside before exploding on the beach near the village of Arkhipo-Osipovka on the Black Sea as tourists looked on from the shore and in the water.

The governor of the Krasnodar region Veniamin Kondratyevtotal said the number of injured reached 40, with 17 people taken to hospital.

Governor Kondratyevtotal accused Ukraine of “a deliberate strike on civilians.” Ukraine has not commented. 

But some Ukrainian Telegram channels have claimed the drone crashed onto the beach as a result of electronic warfare which jammed the drone’s signal. 

Several eyewitnesses were quoted by Russian media as saying gunfire preceded the explosion, indicating that air defences may have tried to shoot the drone down.

Tourists and residents of Arkhipo-Osipovka told local media outlets that there were no warning sirens ahead of the drone attack.

One holidaymaker said: “We covered ourselves with sun loungers, and didn’t see where it exploded.”

Another person said that while they did not see the drone hit they could hear “gunfire, like a machine gun” followed by an explosion.

A third person said: “This all happened in front of my children. My child is having a nervous breakdown.”