A man filmed swimming in the sea near his family suddenly exploded in shocking scenes amid fears he hit a mine deployed on the Ukrainian beach.
The footage, shot in the Odessa region of the war-torn country, showed people running toward the beach shortly before an explosion from the water.
The man’s remains were later washed up on the shoreline where his wife, son and friend had been sitting moments before his death.
Swimming in the area has been banned by local authorities due to the ongoing war with Russia, with mines lining the water edge.
The Odessa Region Police said in a statement: "Police urge residents and guests of Odessa region to strictly follow the rules of martial law: do not go to the coastal protection zone of the Black Sea, do not swim in the mined sea.
"Today, the neglect of safety rules by a family from Donetsk region has led to tragic consequences. While swimming in the sea in one of the villages of Odessa district, an explosion of an unknown object killed a 50-year-old man in front of his wife, son and friend.
“The latter miraculously did not suffer, because he went swimming with the victim.
"There is an investigative task force of the territorial unit of police and explosives. The full circumstances of the incident are being established, the issue of entering information under Part 1 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine marked 'accident' into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations is being resolved.
"Once again, a strict ban on visiting the coast and swimming in the sea are security measures that are life-threatening if neglected."
It was previously reported Russian soldiers reportedly blew themselves up trying to place anti-tank mines from the 1950s.
Ukraine ’s ministry of defence openly mocked Russia ’s forces after dated ammunition was spotted in a military convoy arriving in the occupied Kherson region.
A Canadian volunteer, who is currently fighting alongside Ukraine in Kherson shared the update on Twitter .
He wrote: “In the Kherson region, the Russians are reinforcing their positions with anti-personnel and anti-tank mines that were made in the 1950s. As a result, several cases have been reported of Russian sappers blowing themselves up trying to place said mines.”
Meanwhile a new report claims the likelihood of nuclear missile strikes has shot up to the highest level since the end of the Cold War .
After 35 years of gradual de-escalation, flare-ups between nuclear-armed states are predicted to continue into the next decade, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) , an arms watchdog.
At the height of the Cold War - a nuclear stalemate between Russia and the US - there were almost 70,000 warheads circulating across the globe.
