After Putin arrives in Sochi, alleged Ukrainian drone strike hits the city

Editor's note: The article was updated with reporting by Agentstvo.

A reported Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian resort city of Sochi killed one person overnight on Sept. 9, Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev claimed.

The attack may have coincided with Russian President Vladimir Putin's working visit to the city. According to the Kremlin, Putin joined the BRICS summit online from Sochi on Sept. 8.

Russian independent media outlet Agentstvo reported that an Il-96-300PU presidential aircraft remained at the city's airport during the attack.

Fragments from a downed drone struck a car, killing one person, Kondratyev said on Telegram. Six houses were damaged, with broken windows, damaged facades, and roofs, he added. Emergency services were dispatched to the site.

Ukraine has not commented on the incident, which the Kyiv Independent could not independently verify.

Kyiv has regularly targeted Russian military and energy infrastructure with long-range drones in an effort to disrupt Moscow's war machine.

Sochi sits on Russia's Black Sea coast and is located about 310 kilometers (193 miles) from Ukraine and approximately 538 kilometers (334 miles) from Ukrainian-controlled territory near Orikhiv in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Putin's seaside residence, Bocharov Ruchey, is located in the city, though Russian independent media previously reported that the president had largely stopped visiting Sochi after Ukrainian drones began reaching the region.

The strike followed a series of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian infrastructure.

Ukrainian drones struck a fuel pumping station in Russia's Vladimir Oblast overnight on Sept. 7, the Commander of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces Robert "Madyar" Brovdi reported.

The strike hit a fuel pumping station that supplies diesel to the Moscow Ring Oil Product Pipeline, which serves Russia's capital and the surrounding area.

Drones struck multiple Russian oil facilities on Sept. 5, including oil company Rosneft's largest refinery in Ryazan and an oil depot in occupied Luhansk Oblast, Brovdi reported.

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The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova