According to officials, first responders who arrived at the scene of a Russian missile strike on residential homes in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Friday were themselves targeted by a second missile.
Among the 14 people killed were a paramedic and an emergency service worker. The attack resulted in 46 others being wounded in the port city. This incident took place as Russians participated in a presidential election widely expected to extend Vladimir Putin’s rule for another six years, amidst his crackdown on dissent and the ongoing war in Ukraine, now entering its third year.
The attack damaged at least 10 houses and some emergency service equipment, igniting a blaze, as reported by Ukraine’s Emergency Service and regional governor Oleh Kiper. Such a tactic, known as a double tap in military terms, often leads to civilian casualties, targeting rescuers.
Mr. Kiper announced that Odesa will observe a day of mourning on Saturday, the second such observance in less than two weeks.
On March 2, a Russian drone struck a multi-story building, resulting in the deaths of 12 people, including five children. Since last summer, Russia has escalated its attacks on Odesa, primarily targeting port infrastructure to disrupt the export of goods, following successful Ukrainian operations to restore maritime navigation in the Black Sea.
Russian officials have claimed to target facilities storing Ukrainian sea drones intended for attacks on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
The ports in the Odesa region played a crucial role in last year’s international agreement allowing Ukraine and Russia to ship their grain globally. The city’s population largely speaks Russian, and its history is intertwined with prominent Russian figures such as Catherine the Great, Leo Tolstoy, and Anna Akhmatova.
Its Orthodox cathedral belongs to Moscow’s patriarchate, and its beaches were once popular among Russian tourists, at least until the illegal annexation of Crimea by the Kremlin in 2014.
In the Russian border region of Belgorod, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that a member of the regional territorial defense forces was killed and two others injured in Ukrainian shelling on Friday.
Additionally, overnight in Ukraine, two individuals were killed and three wounded in the central region of Vinnytsia after a drone strike by Russia, according to regional governor Serhii Borzov.
The Ukrainian air force claimed to have shot down all 27 Shahed drones launched by Russia over several regions, including Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi, and Kyiv.
