According to an interior ministry spokesman, air attacks hit Ukraine’s vital Black Sea port of Odessa early Sunday morning, after Kyiv warned that Russia was consolidating its forces in the south.
On his Telegram account, Anton Herashchenko, the interior minister’s adviser, stated, “Odessa was assaulted from the air.”
“In several regions, fires were recorded. Air defences intercepted a few of the rockets.”
Around 6:00 a.m., an AFP reporter in the city’s southwest heard explosions (0300 GMT).
The explosions ejected at least three columns of black smoke into the air, with flames visible in an industrial area.
According to a soldier stationed near one of the strikes, it was most likely a rocket or missile.
The offensive comes as Russian soldiers appear to be retreating from the north of the country.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Friday that Russia was consolidating and planning “strong strikes” in the south, echoing a chorus of Western assessments that Moscow’s forces were regrouping.
Odessa, Ukraine’s major Black Sea port, is a historic city of roughly one million people.
