A Russian missile struck Odesa on Wednesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in the Black Sea port city with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Zelenskyy was not wounded but said he was close enough to have seen and heard the strike and confirmed a number of people had been killed and injured.
“We saw this strike today. You can see who we are dealing with, they don’t care where they strike. I know that there were victims today, I don’t know all the details yet, but I know that there are dead and wounded,” Zelenskyy said from Odesa on Wednesday.
“We need to defend ourselves first and foremost. The best way to do that is with an air defence system,” he added.
Mitsotakis said Zelenskyy had given him a tour of the city before he heard air raid sirens.
“Shortly after, as we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion,” Mitsotakis told reporters later Wednesday. “I think that for us is the best, most vivid reminder that there is a real war going on here. Every day there is a war, which not only affects the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent fellow citizens.”
Zelenskyy frequently makes high-risk trips to the frontlines and has welcomed dozens of world leaders to Ukraine over more than two years of war with Russia, but Wednesday’s attack may represent one of the closest calls for the president.
Russia has pummelled Odesa with missiles for months as Moscow has targeted Ukraine’s grain storage facilities.
On Saturday, a Russian drone attack on an apartment block in Odesa killed 12 people, including five children, Ukrainian officials said.
Zelenskyy said the attack pressed home the need to further strengthen the country’s air defences.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
