Russia said on Wednesday that at least four people were killed and nearly 30 others injured in an overnight Ukrainian drone strike on the port city of Novorossiysk in the country's southern Krasnodar region.
"Tragically, four people lost their lives, including one child… Another 29 people in the city were injured; three are in serious condition," Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said in a statement on Telegram.
Kondratyev said the Russian military repelled what he described as a "massive" drone attack on the region and that all of those injured are receiving the necessary medical care.
Kondratyev accused Ukraine of exclusively striking civilian targets, saying damage was reported to three private homes and five apartment buildings, as well as a church and a kindergarten.
"Emergency and rescue services are continuing to work at the sites," Kondratyev further said, noting that drone debris damaged three private homes and a kindergarten in the nearby town of Anapa.
Kondratyev said no one was killed or injured in Anapa, stating that cleanup operations following the attack are also underway in the region's Krymsky and Temryuksky districts.
Earlier, Novorossiysk Mayor Andrey Kravchenko said drone debris had fallen on the territory of enterprises and near a residential building in the city. He did not elaborate further on the type of enterprise affected.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that air defenses shot down 596 Ukrainian drones over 11 regions, as well as over the Black Sea and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Ukrainian authorities have not yet commented on the strike, though Russia and Ukraine have increasingly targeted each other's logistics centers, as well as port and energy infrastructure, in recent months.
Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, maintaining their strikes are directed at military targets or facilities linked to military activities.
