Russian President Vladimir Putin was in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi a day before a Ukrainian drone strike that closed the airport and killed one.

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Sochi a day before a Ukrainian drone struck the Black Sea resort city on Tuesday. File Photo by Kremlin Press Office UPI Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Russian coastal city of Sochi Tuesday in response to waves of aerial attacks by Russia. A residential building in Kyiv was badly damaged in a Russian drone strike earlier this month. File Photo by Ukrainian State Emergency Service UPI Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Russian coastal city of Sochi Tuesday in response to waves of aerial attacks by Russia. A cathedral in the Black Sea city in the Ukrainian region of Odesa was badly damaged in a Russian aerial attack. File Photo by Igor Tkachenko/EPA UPI

Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Ukrainian drones struck the Russian city of Sochi early Tuesday morning hours after President Vladimir Putin joined a virtual meeting with other world leaders from the Black Sea vacation destination.

Russian air defenses intercepted 31 Ukrainian drones in the attack, shooting down about half over the Black Sea in the overnight attack, military officials told the state-run TASS news agency.The attack damaged six homes and killed one person in Sochi after drone debris fell on the car he was driving, Krasnodar Region Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev, told TASS.

The strike came in response to Russia's growing wave of drone attacks that are meant to overwhelm Ukraine's air defenses. The same morning, more than 20 people in Ukraine waiting in lines for pensions were killed by a Russian drone attack.

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While it's unclear if Putin was in Sochi during the attack, the Russian leader was at his residence in the city where he participated in a video conference with other leaders in BRICS, an intergovernmental organization intended to be a counterweight to the United States and Europe, according to a Kremlin readout.

Hours earlier a Il-96-300PU aircraft of the Rossiya squadron arrived in Sochi, reported the independent news outlet Agentstvo, citing flight data. That plane had the tail number RA-96024, which was the same as the aircraft Putin used to fly to Alaska to meet with President Donald Trump last month, according to the new outlet.

Russian authorities closed the airport in Sochi in response to the attacks, reported independent new outlet Meduza.

Sochi hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics and is regarded as Russia's top resort city. Putin previously spent weeks at his residence "Bocharov Ruchey" in Sochi but has avoided visiting the city since Ukraine increased drone strikes, according to the news outlet.