Sevastopol, Crimea - A Ukrainian missile attack Sunday on a city in the Russian-annexed Crimea peninsula killed three people, including two children, and wounded over 100, officials said.

Fragments hit beachgoers in Sevastopol after at least one missile was intercepted by air defenses and exploded in the air, according to officials.

Sevastopol governor Mikhail Razvozhayev wrote on Telegram that two children and one adult had died. A Russian health ministry official told RIA Novosti news agency that 124 people were injured, including 27 children.

Russia's defense ministry said Ukraine used US-supplied weapons in the attack and accused it of using cluster munitions, and it added that Washington bore responsibility for the deaths of "peaceful residents."

Ukraine conflict Zelensky urges sped-up weapon deliveries after brutal Russian strike leaves several dead

Sevastopol, a Black Sea port city and naval base on the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, regularly comes under fire from Ukraine, but Sunday's attack was unusually deadly.

Razvozhayev said the attack hit Uchkuyevka, an area with sandy beaches and hotels.

Videos posted on social media showed people running from the beach as explosions go off and people in swimming outfits carrying a stretcher. AFP could not verify their authenticity.

A local news channel on Telegram, ChP Sevastopol, cited witnesses as saying that an elderly woman was killed as she swam in the sea.

The investigative committee, which probes major crimes, said it was opening an investigation into "a terrorist act".

The governor said Ukraine had launched five missiles which Russian air defenses intercepted over the sea, but fragments fell onto the shore area and shrapnel wounded people.

Joke of the Day Joke of the Day for June 29, 2024: Get your funny on for Caturday

Razvozhayev said missile fragments hit beach areas in the north of the city and set fire to a house and woodland.

A Russian defense ministry statement said Ukraine committed a "terrorist attack on the civilian infrastructure of Sevastopol with US-supplied ATACMS tactical missiles loaded with cluster warheads".

The ministry said four missiles were downed and a fifth changed trajectory after being intercepted "with its warhead exploding in the air over the city".

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.