Moment panicked sunbathers run from particles subject of Ukrainian missiles

This is the horrifying moment death rained down from the sky over a beach in Russian-occupies Crimea, after a Ukrainian missile was shot down over the area, killing three people including two children. 

The victims were among nearly 120 tourists who were hit by fragments of the weapon after it was blasted out of the sky above Sevastopol yesterday.

Devastating footage showed families enjoying the weather on the sunny seconds before the harsh din of explosions forced them to flee for their lives.

The footage, taken on a phone, shows people barely able to pick up their bags as the bombs fell.  

Two children, aged three and ten, were among those killed, as was an elderly woman who was swimming in the sea at the time of the impact. 

Russian officials claimed they shot down five missiles in total as they flew over the Crimean capital, with the fifth munition breaking up into deadly debris over the beach in Uchkuevka.

In the aftermath of the attack the Kremlin claimed the weapons which were destroyed were American-made and that Washington bears responsibility for those killed. 

‘The responsibility for a deliberate missile strike on peaceful residents of Sevastopol is carried primarily by Washington, which supplied this weaponry to Ukraine,’ the Russian defence ministry wrote on Telegram, saying Ukraine used ATACMS missiles.

Video shared on social media shows terror-stricken Russian tourists fleeing the beach in Sevastopol in the occupied Black Sea peninsula at the moment of the strike.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, Governor of Sevastopol, said the number of wounded was almost 100, describing the incident as grave.

‘All available emergency medical crews have been sent there,’ he said.

‘Some people have already been taken to a hospital, and they are being provided with all the necessary assistance.

‘All forces have been mobilised.’

Reports said the missiles were US-supplied ATACMS operational-tactical missiles equipped with cluster warheads.

Two Majors pro-war Telegram channel said: ‘While repelling a terrorist attack by air defence forces on duty, four American ATACMS missiles were shot down.

‘Another missile, as a result of the impact of air defence systems at the final stage, deviated from the flight path and detonated the warhead in the air over the city territory.

‘As a result of falling fragments of cluster submunitions, more than 20 civilians, including children, were injured.’

Later in the day the toll was put at much higher. 

The wounded were carried from the beach in Uchkuevka, Sevastopol by tourists and emergency services after today’s strike by debris from a downed Ukrainian missile. 

Russians in Crimea have been flocking to beaches in Crimea despite the risk of Ukrainian kamikaze drone and missile attacks.

Separate footage of Sudak beach in Crimean shows how people have crowded to the popular summer relaxation spots despite the risk of missile strikes.

An elderly woman, who was swimming in the sea at the time of the impact, died on the beach in Sevastopol, eyewitnesses say.

Sevastopol, a Black Sea port city and traditional headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet even when it was under Ukrainian rule, was annexed by Russia in 2014.

It regularly comes under fire from Ukraine but the toll from Sunday’s attack was unusually high.

There were reports of a lack of air raid alerts ahead of the strike.

Earlier in the day one person was killed and three were injured in Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, when three Ukrainian drones attacked the city of Grayvoron, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Russia’s ministry of defence said air defence forces shot down 33 Ukrainian drones over the country’s western Bryansk, Smolensk, Lipetsk and Tula regions.

A fresh attack on Kharkiv killed at least one person and injured 10 on Sunday, according to local officials. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the city was attacked by a guided bomb and around half of Kharkiv was without electricity because of the strike.

Ukraine’s military has not commented on the attack, which came a day after a Russian guided bomb strike on the city of Kharkiv hit an apartment building, killing two people and injuring more than 50. 

On Sunday, Russian strikes hit a house and a children’s educational facility in Kharkiv, killing one person and injuring 10 including two teenagers, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said. 

Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said 41 people were still being treated for injuries on Sunday.

In a video address following Saturday’s attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Ukraine’s partners to bolster its air defences.

‘Modern air defence systems for Ukraine – such as Patriots, accelerated training of our pilots for F-16s, and most importantly, sufficient range for our weapons – are truly necessary,’ he said.

Meanwhile, two people were injured by falling debris when two Russian missiles were shot down over the Kyiv region overnight, Ukraine’s air force commander Mykola Oleschuk said.

Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin of Ukraine’s partly occupied Donetsk region said that Russian attacks on Saturday killed two people and wounded four.

In other developments, the Ukrainian Navy released photos on Sunday that it says confirm the destruction of a warehouse in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region used to launch and store Iranian-designed Shahed drones.

Navy officials said training instructors and cadets were killed in the attack on Friday night. Moscow has not yet commented on the reports, but officials said air defences shot down a number of drones in the region overnight on Friday.