'Massive' Russian drone attacks on residential buildings in Odesa injure 13
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and is being updated.
Russian forces struck residential buildings in Odesa overnight on June 20, injuring at least 13 people, including three emergency workers, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported.
The attack, which the service described as “massive,” rang out around 1 a.m. local time. The attack drones struck over 10 targets, including seven residential building, and led to multiple large-scale fires.
At the site of one of the attacks, a 23-story residential building caught fire between the 18th and 20th floors, and led to the evacuation of over 600 people.
In a separate attack on a four-story building within the city, three firefighters were injured when structural elements collapsed on the responders. The building is described as being “completely engulfed in flames,” according to the State Emergency Service.
The three injured firefighters are currently hospitalized in stable condition. Additional information on the attacks as well as casualties are being clarified as search efforts under rubble and debris continue.
Odesa, a port city on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast with a population of around 1 million, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks throughout the full-scale war.
On June 10, a missile and drone attack on Odesa killed two people and injure eight.
Russia has continued to increase the frequency and severity of its attacks on Ukrainian cities, while rejecting a ceasefire in Ukraine. Overnight on June 17, Russia launched one of its largest attacks on Kyiv since the start of full-scale war in February 2022, killing 30 people and injuring 172 others.
The Kyiv IndependentOlena Goncharova