Ukraine reports a drone attack on Odessa

According to Ukrainian information, the strategically important Ukrainian city of Odessa on the Black Sea was hit during airstrikes by Russian drones overnight. “The enemy has just attacked Odessa and the Odessa region with attack drones,” local authorities said on Facebook.

It said in the statement that “damages” had been recorded, and gave no further details at first. The statement quoted the head of the military department of the Odessa region, Yuriy Kruc, as saying that the Ukrainian air defense forces had deployed and warning of the possibility of a second wave of attacks.

No further details were announced initially. However, authorities later said that the airstrikes caused property damage. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Odessa has been repeatedly bombed by Moscow. The energy infrastructure, in particular, has been hit.

In January, the United Nations declared the city’s historic center an endangered World Heritage Site and placed it on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Ukrainian port city also plays a major role in exporting grain as part of a UN-mediated grain agreement with Russia and Turkey.