Russia attacks Odessa during visit of Zelensky and the Greek leader
A Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Odessa took place on Wednesday while President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece were visiting the strategic port city.
Neither was injured and it appeared they continued their visit. It is unclear whether the Russian military specifically targeted them and how close they were to the explosion.
Mr Mitsotakis told reporters in Odessa that he and Mr Zelensky were visiting a port at the time of the attack. “We heard the sound of sirens and explosions very close to us,” he said Sulspine, a public broadcaster. “We didn’t have time to go to a shelter.”
Mr. Zelensky said the attack had left “dead and wounded,” but he did not elaborate.
Dmytro Pletenchuck, a spokesman for the Ukrainian navy, said Russia had hit port infrastructure in the city and five people had been killed.
Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker who was in Odesa at the time of the attack, said the attack took place around 10:40 a.m. local time. “I heard explosions, I was very close to the port,” he said in a text message. “It was very loud.”
It was not immediately clear what weapons Russia used, but the Ukrainian air force reported the possible use of ballistic missiles.
Russia said his army had launched “a high-precision missile attack on a hangar in the industrial port area of Odesa at around 10:40 a.m. local time, where preparations were being made for the combat use of unmanned boats of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
Odesa, home to extensive port infrastructure crucial to Ukraine’s Black Sea exports, has been regularly targeted by Russia over the past six months. Last week a drone hit a residential building, killing twelve civilians. It took rescuers several days to pull the bodies from the rubble, including those of a baby and two children.
Mr Zelensky and Mr Mitsotakis visited the site of last week’s attack on Wednesday to pay tribute to the victims, and went to a cathedral heavily damaged by a previous Russian missile attack.
Mr Zelensky said in a video on social media that he discussed air defense capabilities with Mr Mitsotakis in Odessa. “Weapons are needed here to save human lives,” he said. “Decisions are needed now – not sometime in the future – for the people who face terrorist attacks every day and every night.”