Agencies Odessa
Odessa
Updated Friday, March 15, 2024-17:54
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At least 20 people have died and 75 have been injured this Friday in
one of the worst Russian bombings against Odessa
, the large port city in southern Ukraine, on the shores of the Black Sea, already attacked twice in recent days.
The data has been offered by the city governor.
"Among the dead are residents, a paramedic and a first responder," regional governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram.
According to Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin,
at least eight emergency services employees
have been
injured
.
The municipality declared a day of mourning on Saturday after this attack, one of the deadliest in Odessa since the start of the Russian invasion of this former Soviet republic more than two years ago.
"Russian terror in Odessa is a sign of the weakness of the enemy, which is fighting against Ukrainian civilians at a time when it cannot guarantee the security of its people on its own territory," said Andrei Yermak, a senior Ukrainian government official. .
Emergency services assist those affected by the Russian bombing in Odesa.Efe
With these statements, Yermak has referred to the recent Ukrainian attacks and the incursions of pro-Ukrainian Russian militias into Russian territory.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces fired
"Iskander ballistic missiles from Crimea
," a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, and there were two consecutive attacks at the same location, the emergency service said.
The first missile shot damaged civilian infrastructure and started a fire, rescue teams arrived and began "putting out the fire, clearing the rubble and searching for victims" when "the enemy launched another missile bombardment," the service said. emergencies.
Rescuers treat an injured person.Efe
Images released by authorities showed exhausted rescuers, covered in blood, putting out the flames and treating the injured.
This is the third fatal attack since the beginning of March in Odessa.
On March 3, a drone attack on an apartment building killed 12 people, including five children, and on March 6, a bombing left five dead, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister , Kyriakos Mitsotakis, were visiting the city.
In recent months, Russia has multiplied attacks on this city and its port, which is
crucial for Ukrainian grain exports
in the Black Sea through a maritime corridor established by Kiev after Moscow's withdrawal from a UN-brokered agreement. which allowed Ukraine to transport its products through a safe route.
The bombing of Odessa coincides with the
first day of the presidential elections in Russia
, in which President Vladimir Putin, in power for 24 years, is almost guaranteed his re-election.
The elections are also being held in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine and in Transnistria, a pro-Russian separatist territory located in Moldova.