Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported that at least eight people were killed and 27 others were injured Friday night after a Russian ballistic missile attack hit the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the attack targeted port infrastructure facilities in the town of Pivdenne, near Odessa, and damaged nearby civilian vehicles.
The strike came a week after much of Odessa was left without electricity, heat and water following a “severe” airstrike.
“Some of the injured were on a bus that was at the epicenter of the bombing. The trucks caught fire in the parking lot and cars were also damaged,” he added. State Emergency Service saying.
Emergency officials said the deaths occurred at a port infrastructure facility. Medical teams and first responders were deployed after the attack, but their work was disrupted by “alerts of ongoing airstrikes,” according to Oleh Kiper, head of the Odessa regional administration.
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Russia has carried out repeated attacks on Odessa in recent days, damaging port facilities, civilian ships and key infrastructure.
Two major bridges linking the northern and southern parts of the Odessa region were also affected and repairs are underway, Kiper said.
Separately, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reported a “massive” drone attack in the southern region of Mykolayiv, which damaged infrastructure and civilian vehicles. No victims were reported.
Odessa, Ukraine’s largest seaport and a major hub in the Black Sea region, has been a frequent target since the start of the war.
Last week, civil, energy and industrial sites in the city suffered extensive damage after what regional officials described as “one of the enemy’s most severe airstrikes,” leaving many areas without power or water.
Russian Ministry of Defense He has not commented on the attack.
Hours before the attack, during his annual Direct Line call-in show, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia had not yet “seen Ukraine’s readiness for peace.”
“[Russia] “It is ready to negotiate and end the conflict by peaceful means,” Putin said, adding that it was up to Russia’s “Western opponents” to end the war.
(CNN)