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Ukraine’s port city of Odessa was hit by Russian missiles in a blitz as the city’s large Jewish population marked the holy day of Yom Kippur.
Fighters are believed to have struck the Hotel Odessa – a military target used as a training centre – with local reports that the building is caught up in flames.
Other reports describe a ‘continuous attack’ on the Black Sea port lasting for over an hour, as Russia fired an arsenal of shahed missiles.
Oleg Veretskiy posted on X, listing the invaders’ weaponry as ‘Onyx, Calibers and Shaheds’.
He added: ‘I don’t remember such a dense attack on Odessa for a long time. It was loud. Right next to us. We survived. The air raid alert has been cancelled.’
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At night, Russia launched 19 suicide drones, 2 supersonic Oniks missiles, and 12 Kalibr missiles at the region, according to the Southern Defense Forces.
Many of Odessa’s population of over 12,000 Jews were marking the end of their fasting period on the holy day of Yom Kippur when the missiles struck.
Odessa was attacked in the early hours of this morning (Picture: via REUTERS)
Dozens of buildings were damaged in the attack (Picture: via REUTERS)
Firefighters working to tackle the blaze at the hotel in Odessa(Picture: via REUTERS)
Explosions have also been reported in Sevastopol in the Crimea, temporarily occupied by Russia.
The attacks come as President Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukrainereached its 20th month with no tangible sign of victory.
Yesterday, Russian air strikes killed two people and wounded three others in Ukraine’s Kherson province – just days after two were killed and eight others injured in a strike on Sunday
Senior Russian commanders were left ‘seriously injured’ after Ukrainian missiles struck Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters on Saturday.
Colonel-General Alexander Romanchuk and Lieutenant General Oleg Tsekov were ‘seriously wounded’ when Storm Shadow missiles hit the Navy HQ in Sevastopol, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov.
At least nine military personnel were killed and 16 wounded in the attack.
‘Among the wounded is the commander of the group, Colonel-General Alexander Romanchuk, in a very serious condition,’ the spymaster told Voice of America.
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