Violence linked to the Ukraine-Russia war spilled into holiday hotspots on the Black Sea and in Crimea, leaving 11 people dead and scores wounded in two strikes that officials blamed on Kyiv.
Russia said seven people — including three children — were killed and about 40 injured at the seaside resort town of Gelendzhik, describing the incident as a deliberate Ukrainian drone attack on civilians.
Social media videos, verified by Reuters, showed what appears to be a drone slamming into a crowded beach area near Gelendzhik, followed by a loud explosion.
Reuters confirmed the location by matching buildings, the coastline and trees to satellite and archive imagery.
In a statement to CNN, Mr Andrii Kovalenko, Head of Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation, said Russian air defences brought down the drone over the beach — and that the interception led to the civilian casualties.
The Black Sea coast and Crimea are both major summer getaways for Russian tourists, drawing large crowds during peak season.
Ukraine has often launched hundreds of drones into Russia overnight, framing such strikes as retaliation for Moscow’s own waves of drones and missiles targeting Ukrainian towns and cities.
In a separate strike on the Russian-annexed peninsula of Crimea, four people were killed, while Ukraine said a Russian attack killed three people in its eastern city of Kryvyi Rig.
Pallbearers carry the coffins of family members during a funeral ceremony in Kryvyi Rig
Russia launched its full-scale offensive against Ukraine in February 2022 and has repeatedly struck its neighbour, including from the Crimean peninsula.
In recent months, Ukraine has stepped up counter-strikes on Crimea — seized by Moscow in 2014 — actions that have contributed to electricity and fuel shortages on the peninsula this summer.
A Russian attack on Kryvyi Rig — the hometown of President Volodymyr Zelensky — killed three people, a local official said.
“A fire broke out at the scene. A gas station and several cars were badly damaged,” said Oleksandr Ganzha, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk region.
In an image he shared, firefighters were seen battling the blaze alongside the charred remains of a vehicle at the gas station.
Zelensky sacks his ambassador to the US
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today dismissed his ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, a decision widely anticipated after a government reshuffle last month.
The move, set out in a decree, came as Kyiv continued its intense push in Washington for additional Patriot air defence missiles to help blunt Russian strikes.
In a Facebook post — where she also shared a letter requesting to be relieved of her duties — Ms Stefanishyna said the step was hers and was “dictated by personal circumstances”.
She described her posting in Washington as “the greatest honour” of her life.
Mr Zelensky, who carried out a controversial reshuffle in July, has not yet named Ms Stefanishyna’s successor as ambassador in Washington.
Kremlin critic Nadezhdin flees Russia for France
Meanwhile, Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin — recently detained outside Moscow and blocked from running for parliament — said he has left Russia, posting a video from Paris.
Mr Nadezhdin was among the few politicians who openly criticised President Vladimir Putin and the offensive in Ukraine while remaining in the country.
Almost all of Mr Putin’s critics are in jail, in exile or dead.
Mr Nadezhdin had sought to run in Russia’s tightly controlled parliamentary elections in September.
Boris Nadezhdin quit his election campaign last month
As his campaign gathered pace last month, authorities labelled him a “foreign agent”, briefly detained him, and then fined him 1,000 rubles (€10) for displaying “extremist symbols” in a dramatic hearing during which paramedics were called when his blood pressure spiked.
Under that pressure — which would technically have barred him from standing — he announced he was ending his campaign, saying he had been “silenced” and “pushed out of politics”.
Today, he posted a video on his Telegram channel with the Eiffel Tower visible behind him.
“I have some good news: I’m alive and free. Unfortunately, not in Russia,” Mr Nadezhdin said.
“For now, I need to get my bearings and figure out how to move forward. I’ll write about my plans later,” he said.
Mr Nadezhdin had been campaigning to become an MP in Dolgoprudny, a town outside Moscow.
He said last month authorities targeted him because they were “nervous” about his popularity.
The former municipal councillor previously tried to run for president in 2024 against Mr Putin, collecting tens of thousands of signatures of support before being barred from the ballot.
Denmark begins extended military conscription in response to Russia, Trump
Elsewhere, around 1,600 Danish military recruits began the country’s newly extended conscription, starting an 11-month service period as Denmark accelerates its defence build-up amid Arctic security pressures and the war in Ukraine.
Denmark said in 2024 it would expand conscription to include women for the first time and lengthen standard service to 11 months from four, while annual conscription numbers are set to rise to 7,500 by 2033 from 5,000.
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The latest intake comes as Denmark prepares to send conscripts to Greenland for the first time later this month, with a company of more than 100 soldiers due to serve for one month as they take over operational duties from professional troops.
The deployment carries added political weight after US President Donald Trump repeatedly sought to annex the semi-autonomous Danish territory, citing national security — a demand that the governments of Greenland and Denmark have firmly rejected.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at last month’s NATO summit in Ankara that Denmark was ready to defend every inch of alliance territory, “including our own”.
French court rejects pro-Kremlin commentator’s deportation appeal
In Paris, a court has rejected an appeal from a Russian television commentator ordered to leave France after authorities accused her of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda.
The decision follows France’s move last week to expel Xenia Fedorova and freeze her assets, a step she denounced as “censorship”.
Xenia Fedorova was a former journalist for Russia’s state-run RT
The 45-year-old — a former journalist for Russia’s state-run RT television channel — did not demonstrate that being ordered to leave France would have “serious personal consequences”, the Paris administrative court said.
Her lawyer said she was abroad when the expulsion order was issued and would not return to France unless the measure is suspended or overturned.
She plans to challenge the ruling, Emmanuel Piwnica added.
