Authorities say at least three persons were killed and 13 were injured in a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa early Wednesday.
Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the region’s military administration, posted on Telegram that Russia fired four Kalibr missiles from a ship in the Black Sea.
Bratchuk further stated that a strike at a retail chain’s warehouse killed three employees and injured seven more.
“There may be people underneath the rubble”, he continued.
He went on to say, “Six other people were wounded after a business centre, shops, and a residential complex in the city centre were damaged as a result of air combat and the blast wave”.
According to the military administration, air defences shot down two of the missiles.
Before President Vladimir Putin launched troops into Ukraine in February last year, Odesa was a popular tourist destination for many Ukrainians and Russians.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Odesa has been bombed multiple times, and in January the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO declared the city’s historic centre a World Heritage in Danger site.
In recent weeks, Moscow has increased its nighttime attacks on key Ukrainian cities, while Kyiv has launched a long-awaited counter-offensive to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces.
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