Russian attack in Odessa, Ukraine: “A tactic of terrorists”
Ukraine is in mourning, the day after a new deadly strike on Odessa, Friday March 16.
Twenty people were killed, according to emergency services, and 73 others were injured, according to the latest report from the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky speaks of an attack carried out using two missiles, the second of which struck "just as rescuers and medics were arriving at the site of the attack."
Rescuers battle a fire in Odessa on March 15, after a deadly double Russian attack.
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The Ukrainian president speaks of an
“
absolutely despicable ”
attack
.
The town hall of Odessa, a large southern port city, has declared a day of mourning this Saturday.
According to the Ukrainian army, Russian forces fired “
Iskander ballistic missiles from Crimea
”.
Two consecutive strikes on the same site, according to the emergency services.
A first missile strike initially damaged civilian infrastructure and caused a fire.
And when rescuers arrived and began to "
put out the fire, clear the rubble and search for victims
", the same source, "
the enemy launched another missile attack
".
Methods denounced by Odessa MP Oleksiy Hontcharenko, contacted in Odessa, his hometown.
“
Russia
,
he considers,
used
terrorist tactics in this attack.
Ten minutes after the first strike, Russia made a second strike, in the same place, to attack the doctors, the people who were there to help the injured.
It's like all terrorists.
And because of that, more than 20 dead and dozens injured.
»
It's very sad now in the city and people are shocked by it.
During the last month, this is not the first attack nor the second, it is almost every day a new attack on our city.
Listen againDanielle Bell: “In Crimea, Russia’s policies aim to suppress dissent”
Among the victims, several political-military figures, including a former deputy mayor who became a soldier, and a former regional police chief.
The location of their meeting was undoubtedly revealed to the Russian forces by local agents, which Oleksiy Hontcharenko regrets.
“
Unfortunately, there are these Russian agents,”
he said.
For me, it is something incredible that people who live in Odessa can help the aggressor to attack the cities where they live.
It's incredible, but unfortunately there are these Russian agents.
Our security service is working to stop these agents and to block this, but this attack shows that these agents are effective.
»
“
Odessa is the most strategic city in Ukraine
for
Russia,”
concludes the MP.
And because of that strategic value, I think Russia, now, is escalating with this attack.
»
To rereadTen years ago, the annexation of Crimea by Russia
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