Russian strikes claim four lives in Ukraine’s Odesa region

Overnight Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa resulted in the deaths of four individuals, including a teenage girl, and left ten others injured, according to the regional governor on Friday.

Russia has frequently targeted the coastal Odesa area during the conflict, striking cargo ships and grain silos in an effort, as Kyiv asserts, to cripple Ukraine’s export capabilities.

“The enemy launched ballistic missiles at the Odesa region, killing four people, including a teenager,” regional governor Oleg Kiper stated on social media.

He reported that a two-story building was destroyed in the attack, with the victims comprising a 43-year-old woman, a 22-year-old man, and a 16-year-old girl. Kiper also mentioned that another woman succumbed to her injuries in the hospital, and ten individuals sustained wounds.

First responders released footage from the scene showing emergency personnel recovering bodies from the rubble of the collapsed building using lamplight.

Recently, Russian forces have intensified assaults on southern Ukraine, including attacks that have damaged civilian vessels at ports in the Odesa region.

Before Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine was among the world’s largest grain exporters, but repeated assaults on its ports and storage facilities have significantly reduced its production capacity.

Earlier this week, eight people were killed in a separate attack, part of a series of strikes that the European Union has condemned as a “blatant violation of international law.”