The massive drone attack on Sochi in the Krasnodar region only proves that Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin cannot ensure the safety of Russia’s “elite” representatives, said Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine’s anti-disinformation center, on Thursday.
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“Things are not going very well in Sochi. There are currently quite a few representatives of the Russian elite there, and this once again proves that Putin cannot guarantee their safety,” he said in his post on the Telegram platform.
Local Russian channels reported a combined attack on the city involving marine drones and unmanned aerial vehicles.
A drone and unmanned boat threat was declared in the city and the nearby Sirius settlement. Sirens began to wail in the streets. The Kuban operational headquarters reported that Sochi suffered a marine drone attack, which caused a fire at the pier.
According to preliminary data from authorities, one person was injured. The report states that emergency services are working at the attack site.
Sochi mayor Andrey Proshunin wrote on his Telegram channel that “all forces and means are working on the city’s defense,” and urged residents to stay in shelters.
Ukrainian monitoring channels shared videos showing certain targets being shelled. Additionally, as seen in other videos, several explosions rang out on the Sochi waterfront, followed by fires.
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The “Supernova” and “Krymskij veter” channels assessed that marine drones may have hit the Sochi seaport area. After the attack, traffic around the Sochi port was blocked, and the pier was also closed.
Due to the massive attack in Sochi, a concert by Russian singer Tatyana Bulanova, held at the “Festival” hall, was stopped, according to local social media pages. It is reported that the singer managed to perform the first part of the program, and after the danger signal, the audience was evacuated.
On the morning of September 3, Ukrainian special forces also attacked the Sochi port. Preliminary data indicates that a drone struck the ship “Nefrit,” intended for marine oil and gas operations support.
Less than a week ago, on September 4, Ukrainian drones attacked an oil depot located just 100 meters from Sochi International Airport.
Due to that attack, aircraft refueling at the airport was temporarily restricted. And on September 7, a fire flared up again at the same oil depot, which had been partially extinguished – a thick column of smoke rose over the city again.
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