Three swimmers were killed in explosions when sea mines washed up too close to a beach packed with families in Ukraine.
Two men and a woman were killed in the blasts on two beaches after the weapons floated into them as they swam in the Black Sea on Sunday.
According to local reports, the mines exploded approximately 50m from the shore on Zatoka and Karolino-Buhaz beaches.
Shocking footage shows sunbathers standing up after the blast sends a spout of water cascading into the air in the distance.
Later body parts washing ashore as a woman sits down and cries in the sand. Other sunbathers stand up to see the aftermath of the bombs.
The explosions happened on beaches where swimming is banned becausenaval conflicts between Russia and Ukraine left the Black Sea riddled with mines.
The Head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, insisted those injured had disobeyed warning signs.
‘Deadly danger in the water: three lives were lost due to ignoring prohibitions’, he said on Telegram.
‘One man died in Karolino-Buhaz, another man and a woman in Zatoka. All of them were blown up by explosive devices while swimming in areas prohibited for recreation,’ he said.
The separate explosions occurred less than 30 minutes from each other in zones prohibited for swimming, the Odessa Oblast Emergency Medical Service said.
Investigation and operational teams, bomb disposal experts and rescuers are working at the scene.
Kiper added that there are 32 safe mine-free swimming areas in the region.
‘We remind you: During an air alarm, a storm of 2 points or the detection of suspicious objects – people are FORBIDDEN from the sea,’ he said.
It came as possible ceasefire talks could take place this week looking to end the conflict that has killed up to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers with Russian casualties approaching one million, according to CSIS.
There are fears that Vladimir Putin sees a possible meeting with Donald Trump as a chance to cement Russia’s territorial gains but also keep Ukraine from joining NATO and hosting any Western troops, allowing Moscow to gradually pull the country back into its orbit.
The Kremlin leader believes time is on his side as the exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian forces are struggling to stem Russian advances in many sectors of the over 600mile front line while swarms of Russian missiles and drones batter Ukrainian cities.
Volodymyr Zelensky also has stood firm in his positions, agreeing to a ceasefire proposed by Trump while reaffirming the country’s refusal to abandon seeking NATO membership and rejecting Russia’s annexation of any of its regions.
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