KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched an intense series of nighttime air attacks sending drones and missiles toward places across Ukraine, targeting the southern port city of Odesa for a second night in a row, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Russian emergency officials in Crimea said that over 2,200 people were evacuated from four villages because of a fire at a military facility. The fire also caused the closure of an important highway, according to Sergey Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of the region, which was annexed in 2014.
He did not specific a cause for the fire at the facility in Kirovsky district, which came two days after an attack on a bridge linking Russia to the peninsula that the Kremlin has blamed on Ukraine.
“A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said in a statement on Telegram. Ukrainian authorities reported more drones and missiles sent against more parts of Ukraine than in recent days.
Popko said the attacks were especially fierce in Odesa for a second consecutive night.
Odesa's regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said the attack included “dozens of missiles and strike drones” aimed at the port and infrastructure facilities. Debris from missiles and drones that were shot down fell on apartment buildings, seaside resorts and warehouses, sparking fires and injuring several people.
A 9-year-old boy and fire other apartment bloc residents sought assistance for injuries caused by shattered glass and other objects.
The remnants of a downed Kh-59 missile created a large crater in another part of the city, leaving three civilians injured and several buildings damaged.
Russia targeted the port and key infrastructure with Oniks and Kh-22 missiles, Kiper said. Grain and oil terminals were hit, damaging storage tanks, loading equipment and causing a fire. Emergency service workers were deployed.
Eight Shahed drones were also shot down in the wider Odesa region, where two warehouses containing tobacco and fireworks were reported damaged.
Russia also attacked Kyiv with Iranian-made Shahed drones but with “no result,” said Popko. Ukrainian air defense intercepted all the drones aimed at the capital and a preliminary investigation showed there were no casualties.
In Ukraine's Zhytomyr region, Russian drone attacks damaged some infrastructure and private homes, according to regional Gov. Vitalii Bunechko. No casualties were reported.
Officials in the Ukrainian regions of Poltava and Kirovohrad also reported attacks.
The latest barrage came one day after Russia carried out what Moscow's Defense Ministry described as a “strike of retribution” on Ukrainian military facilities near Odesa and the coastal city of Mykolaiv, using sea-launched precision weapons.
Russia blames Ukraine for a July 17 strike on the Kerch Bridge, which links Russia with the Crimea, and is a key artery for military and civilian supplies.
Ukraine’s top security agency appeared tacitly to admit to a role in the July 17 attack, but stopped short of directly claiming responsibility, echoing their responses after previous similar attacks on the Kerch Bridge.
Hanna Arhirova, The Associated Press
