Paris summer ritual returns with 3 supervised Seine swimming spots

PARIS (AP) — Swimming in the Seine is settling into a new Paris summer ritual as the city on Saturday opened three supervised bathing sites for the second year in a row.

The free swimming areas near City Hall, the Eiffel Tower and in eastern Paris will remain open through the summer, depending on water quality and weather conditions. They are placed under strict lifeguards' watch and authorities conduct daily water quality testing.

Visitors described swimming in the heart of the French capital as an unforgettable experience.

“It’s amazing to be swimming in the Seine while looking at the Eiffel Tower,” said Stewart Talbot, a tourist from Melbourne, Australia, visiting Paris for a week. “Maybe it’s not as good as the sea in Australia, but it’s better than our rivers.”

Some Parisians also have added swimming in the Seine to their bucket list.

“It’s great because it’s such a mix of people,” Hermine Jegou, 19, said. “I love that everyone can get into the water — grandmothers, children — it’s just really nice.”

Her sister, Joanne Jegou, 21, said she'd do it again. "It’s such a cool experience, especially being out in the sun and cooling off.”

The Seine was a venue for some swimming and triathlon competition during the Paris 2024 Olympics, which accelerated a multibillion-euro cleanup of the river through major sewer upgrades, new rainwater storage infrastructure and other projects designed to reduce pollution.

However, last summer, several swimming days were canceled due to heavy rain, which increases pollution upstream.

At the Grenelle site near the Eiffel Tower, officials prepared for large crowds escaping hot weather in the coming days.

“The maximum capacity here is 200 people,” said Clémence Donazzan, deputy manager of the Grenelle site. There's a waiting system at the entrance and they will monitor the number of swimmers in real time, "so everyone will eventually have access, even if there’s a short wait.”

Before 2024, swimming in the Seine had been banned for about a century because of poor water quality. Public swimming has been available for years in a canal in northeastern Paris during summer.

People enjoy the sun after a swim in the Seine River, Saturday, July 4, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

People swim in the Seine River, Saturday, July 4, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

People swim in the Seine River, Saturday, July 4, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

People swim in the Seine River, Saturday, July 4, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

People swim in the Seine River, Saturday, July 4, 2026 in Paris. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched waves of missiles and drones targeting Kyiv early Monday that killed at least 11 people, authorities said, hours after Ukraine’s president warned that a large-scale attack was imminent.

Another 60 people were wounded, according to local officials, as emergency workers combed through rubble looking for survivors at residential high-rise buildings in two locations that suffered direct hits.

The new attack came days after a Russian strike killed 31 people in the capital on Thursday, the deadliest for the capital this year. Russia’s Defense Ministry said the bombardment was retaliation for Ukraine’s recent long-range strikes, which have caused severe fuel shortages and pressured President Vladimir Putin.

More than four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, Ukraine’s advances in drone technology have given it an edge in recent months, analysts and Western officials say. Strikes on supply routes behind the front line have stripped the Russian army of momentum on the battlefield, they say, slowing its advance and driving up the cost.

But Russia is now exploiting a different kind of momentum: gaps in Ukraine’s air defenses, which remain heavily reliant on the U.S. Patriot systems to intercept ballistic missiles it can rarely shoot down any other way. The war in the Middle East has strained the global supply of Patriot interceptors, already produced in limited numbers — a shortage now most of all being felt in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia fired hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at the country overnight, targeting mainly Kyiv and 29 ballistic missiles that were launched struck their targets, underscoring how little Ukraine can do to stop them.

“To intercept ballistics, we need the means for interception,” Air Force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said on national television, commenting on last night’s attack. “Russians are certainly using the fact that there is a serious deficit of interceptor missiles now, in Ukraine and the world.”

Ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that Ukrainian forces had performed well against drones and cruise missiles but not against Russian ballistic missiles — a shortfall he blamed on insufficient interceptor supplies. He urged U.S. and European partners to leave the summit with strong decisions to bolster Ukraine’s air defense and protect civilian lives.

“As long as Patriot missiles remain in our allies’ stockpiles, Russia is only encouraged to keep “vanquishing” residential buildings. The United States and Europe have enough strength to stop this terror,” he said in a statement following the attack.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said the attack targeted weapons factories in Kyiv, including sites it said produce drones, sea drones, armored vehicles and missiles, as well as facilities that repair air defense systems and fuel and energy infrastructure in the city and surrounding region. The claims could not be independently verified.

Russia’s aerial attacks on Ukraine have repeatedly hit civilian areas. More than 16,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war, according to the United Nations.

“These are residential buildings. Places where people slept and lived their ordinary lives,” said Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s City Military Administration, in a post on Telegram.

A residential building in the Podilskyi district partially collapsed, he said. In the Darnytsia district, several multistory buildings were damaged and people were believed to be trapped under the rubble.

Meanwhile, an energy provider in Russia-occupied Crimea reported a blackout across the peninsula due to “external impact.” The Moscow-appointed head of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said Ukrainian attacks cut power supplies to the city early Monday, but it was later restored using backup equipment.

Russia's Yaroslavl region Gov. Mikhail Yavrayev said two people were wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on the city of the same name. He said over 70 Ukrainian drones were downed as they attacked the city. Yavrayev didn’t say if any facilities were damaged, but Astra online news outlet said the attack targeted an oil refinery in the city, causing a fire.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 519 Ukrainian drones overnight.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

A woman carries her cat out of a damaged multistory apartment building following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Local residents walk amid debris following a Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Local residents look out of the balcony at a building damaged by Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Emergency workers carry an injured person following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

Emergency services personnel work to extinguish a fire following Russian missile attacks in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)

Rescuers work the scene of a building damaged by Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Rescuers work the scene of a building damaged by Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

The damaged apartment interior in the ruined building following Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Rescuers work the scene of a building damaged by Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Rescuers work the scene of a building damaged by Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)