Massive Russian airstrike
Odessa reports significant damage to the port
September 25, 2023, 7:27 a.m
Russia is attacking the Ukrainian port city of Odessa with drones, rockets and cruise missiles. Granaries are apparently destroyed and a fire breaks out. And throughout the Ukraine there is an air alert at times throughout the night
Russia attacked the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa with drones and missiles overnight. An army spokeswoman said the Ukrainian Defense Forces shot down 19 drones and 13 Caliber cruise missiles, 11 of them in the Odessa region. There was significant damage in the port, “a fire broke out in the station hotel building, which had not been in operation for several years. Firefighters immediately extinguished it,” said the military governor of Odessa, Oleg Kiper. Granaries were also destroyed. A civilian was also injured in Odessa.
The Ukrainian Air Force had previously warned on Telegram about attacks with Shahed drones, Kalibr missiles and Oniks cruise missiles. Military Governor Kiper called on the residents of the port city and the region to seek safety and not to leave the shelters prematurely. There was a temporary air alert throughout Ukraine during the night.
After the Russian air strike in the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, the number of injured rose to more than 50, according to official figures. The military governor of the Poltava region, Dmytro Lunin, said on Telegram that there were six children and a pregnant woman among the injured. Nineteen people are in hospital. At least one person was killed in the attack on Friday. According to Lunin, the Russians fired several rockets at Kremenchuk, southeast of Kiev. One of the projectiles was blocked by the air defense, another hit a civilian building.
Civil infrastructure and Black Sea ports in sight
Contrary to Russian claims, residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure are repeatedly shelled in the war against Ukraine. Kremenchuk was the target of a devastating attack just a few months after the start of the war, in June 2022. At that time, Russian missiles hit a shopping center, killing at least 20 people.
In recent months, the strategically important Ukrainian Black Sea ports have increasingly come under Russian fire. Observers see the latest attack as a possible retaliation for the Ukrainian missile attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet headquarters on the annexed Crimean peninsula on Friday.