By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) – At least three people were injured and several civilian structures were damaged, including apartment buildings and educational institutions, in pre-dawn Russian forces airstrikes in southern Ukraine’s Odesa city on Monday.
The State Emergency Service carried out a search and rescue operation in Odesa, recovering three injured people from the rubble, all employees of a supermarket hit hard by enemy air shelling, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on Telegram.
Apartment buildings, educational institutions, cars, a pharmacy, and a dormitory of a higher educational institution were also damaged, Klymenko added.
Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper stated on Telegram that the damage to the supermarket and other infrastructure was caused by downed Russian missiles shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems.
“The blast wave shattered windows in several buildings and damaged cars parked nearby. Fires broke out at three facilities. All relevant services are on-site,” Kiper added.
He claimed that three waves of attacks were carried out in the region, during which a total of 15 drones and eight Kalibr missiles were shot down.
A separate statement by the Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram also provided the same number of drones and missiles that were shot down, and that earlier in the day, a Russian Ka-52 helicopter was also destroyed by an anti-aircraft missile unit in the direction of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.
Russian authorities have not yet commented on the attacks, and independent verification of Ukraine’s claims is difficult due to the ongoing war.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February 2022, has killed over 9,300 civilians and wounded more than 16,600, according to the latest UN figures.