Ukrainian drone kills seven on Russian beach

**Will Chalk** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Will Chalk, and in the early hours of Tuesday the 4th of August, these are our main stories. Russia accuses Ukraine of deliberately targeting civilians after a drone hit a busy beach killing seven people. Britain's Maritime Security Agency says a cargo vessel has been struck by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz. It comes as Iran and the United States continue to make conflicting claims about whether they're engaged in talks.
Also in this podcast, we'll have a BBC exclusive report from the heart of demonstrations in Pakistani-administered Kashmir and...

**Nicole Hark** (0:40)
It's really critical to help people get back to work. They don't want to be dependent on aid, but it's really finding a safe space and finding something that's affordable and that continues to have consistent electricity.

**Will Chalk** (0:51)
We meet the Gazans still working in tech despite living in tents.
Russia says it was a deliberate strike by Ukraine on civilians in broad daylight that claimed the lives of seven people, including three children, at a seaside resort. Ukraine still hasn't commented, but recently it's been stepping up its long-range attacks deep into Russia, mainly targeting oil refineries and e-commerce warehouses. In what it says is a campaign to make Russians feel the cost of the war. James Landau has the details.

**James Landau** (1:26)
In this war, both sides say they don't target civilians. But civilians are paying a price, even on the beach.
The drone strike happened at a resort near Zhelenshik on the Black Sea coast. The authorities said seven were killed, including three children, with 40 wounded. Witnesses said there were no warning sirens.
The sound of gunfire suggesting the drone may have been hit by air defences or electronic jamming, according to Ukrainian media. But the governor of this region, which is popular with Russian holiday makers, accused Ukraine of a deliberate strike on civilians. Russia's foreign ministry accused Ukraine and its allies of terrorism.

**Harold Griffith** (2:14)
Vladimir Putin!

**James Landau** (2:19)
No word yet from Russia's leader. Vladimir Putin was thousands of miles away in Siberia, enjoying the noisy adulation of hundreds of young people. No comment either from the authorities in Ukraine.
But civilians were dying there too. A Russian strike on a petrol station in the Dnepropetrovsk region killed three, including an eight-year-old boy.
And just a short drive away, a funeral for a family wiped out by a Russian missile strike last week. Coffins for the parents and three children. But none for five other children, still unaccounted for. Back in Russia, another Ukrainian strike on a warehouse owned by Wildberries, the country's largest online retailer. For Russian businesses and civilians, this war is coming closer to home.

**Will Chalk** (3:14)
Now, Russia itself has repeatedly struck targets in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities too.
Thousands of mostly Ukrainian civilians have died. But just how keenly are these recent attacks by Ukraine inside Russia now being felt? Here is our Russia editor, Steve Rosenberg.

**Steve Rosenberg** (3:30)
They are feeling the war. I think what struck me most was the contrast. You know, the contrast between the horror on that beach in southern Russia and the hurrah for Vladimir Putin in Siberia, the cheers for Russia's president. It took my mind back to the day that Vladimir Putin launched the so-called special military operation. He made a speech and at the very top of that speech, within seconds, he had claimed that what he was doing, he was doing for the security of Russia.
Well, in the last few days, a bomb has exploded in a Moscow restaurant, killing people. People were killed on that beach in southern Russia. Ukrainian drones have been targeting oil refineries and wild berries warehouses. Russia today feels less safe and less secure. Those pictures of Vladimir Putin, those images, he looks supremely confident. There is no hint of self-doubt. He seems determined, despite everything that is happening around him, determined to continue fighting until he achieves what he believes will be his victory.

**Will Chalk** (4:34)
Of Russia editor Steve Rosenberg in Moscow there.
Right, now to reports of another apparent attack on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. Britain's maritime security agency says the crew of a cargo ship has issued an alert saying their vessel was hit by a projectile. It happened around 20 nautical miles northeast of Al-Hassab in Oman. It comes as the debate rages on as to whether the US and Iran are holding peace talks. President Trump says yes, Iran's foreign ministry says no. But Mr Trump claims it's the Iranians that are being economical with the truth.

**Donald Trump** (5:07)
For some reason, when they're talking, they don't like saying that they're talking. So I say, wait, we're in talks. Big deal, we're in talks. And they'll sometimes deny it, even though they spend hours and hours together talking. No, the talks are going along.