Kyiv: A Russian ballistic missile attack struck a residential area in Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa on Friday, killing at least 20 people and wounding more than 70, in Moscow's deadliest attack in weeks, according to officials. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia would get a "fair response" for the "vile" assault on a city that has been attacked by Russian weapons almost every day in March.
Two Iskander-M missiles fired from the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula damaged civilian infrastructure and gas and electricity supply lines in the southern city, regional governor Oleh Kiper said on national television. Police officers were among the deceased, along with a former deputy mayor of the city. Some residents, he said, were facing gas and electricity supply cuts as a result of strikes.
"The explosion was very strong, especially the second one... This is a very powerful missile that flies from the occupied Crimea in a few minutes," Kiper said. Residents were rushing to donate blood, creating queues at medical centres. Saturday was declared a local day of mourning. A three-storey recreational facility was destroyed in the attack as well as at least 10 private houses, the southern military command said.
Odesa targeted by repeated attacks
Odesa, one of Ukraine's biggest ports, has long been a target of Russian attacks, especially after Moscow quit a UN-brokered deal that had allowed safe passage for Ukrainian grain shipments via the Black Sea. On March 2, a Russian drone struck a multistory building, killing 12 people, including five children.
The attacks have primarily targeted port infrastructure, aiming to disrupt the export of goods after Ukraine managed to restore maritime navigation with a series of successful operations in the Black Sea. Moscow officials have also claimed they are aiming at facilities where Ukrainian sea drones are stored for attacks on Russia's Black Sea Fleet.
Odesa residents largely speak Russian, and the city's past is intertwined with some of Russia's most revered figures, including Catherine the Great, author Leo Tolstoy and poet Anna Akhmatova. Its Orthodox cathedral belongs to Moscow's patriarchate and — at least until the Kremlin illegally annexed the nearby Crimean Peninsula in 2014 — its beaches were beloved by Russian tourists.
Russian presidential elections
"Our Defence Forces will certainly do everything to ensure that the Russian killers feel our fair response," Zelenskiy said on Telegram after the attack on Friday, as several bodies were laid out in foil protective blankets, while dozens of rescuers battled to put out fires and continued clearing the rubble.
"The Russian terror in Odesa is a sign of the weakness of the enemy, which is fighting against Ukrainian civilians at a time when it cannot guarantee the safety of people on its own territory," Ukrainian presidential chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram. Ukraine has developed and used long-range drones to try to strike back at Russia, stepping up attacks on a string of oil refineries this week in the run-up to Russia's March 15-17 presidential election.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is set for another term as the Kremlin leader, said Ukraine would be punished for trying to disrupt the Russian presidential election by shelling civilian targets in Russian territory and using 2,500 armed soldiers to try to pierce Russia's borders.
"In order to disrupt the voting process and intimidate people, at least in the border areas, the Kyiv regime... is trying to carry out a number of criminal actions - striking at civilian settlements in Russia. These enemy strikes shall not remain unpunished," Putin said. He said 95 per cent of the shells and missiles were shot down by Russian air defences but said some got through and that there were casualties among Russian civilians.
(with inputs from agencies)
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