At least 21 injured in third night of Russian air attacks on southern Ukraine

Ukrainian officials report 19 hurt in Black Sea city of Mykolaiv; port city Odesa also targeted

By AP 20 July 2023, 3:22 pm

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In this photo provided by the National Police of Ukraine, members of emergency services work at a building destroyed by a Russian attack in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, July 20, 2023. (National Police of Ukraine via AP)

KYIV, Ukraine — A third night of Russian air attacks targeted Ukraine’s southern cities, including the port city of Odesa, and wounded at least 21 people, Ukrainian officials said Thursday.

At least 19 people were injured in Mykolaiv, a southern city close to the Black Sea, the region’s Governor Vitalii Kim said in a statement on Telegram. Russian strikes destroyed parts of a three-story building and caused a fire that affected an area of 450 square meters (4,800 square feet) and burned for hours. Kim said two people were hospitalized, including a child.

In the port city of Odesa, at least two were injured following a Russian air attack that damaged buildings in the city center and caused a fire affecting an area of 300 square meters (3200 square feet), said Odesa Governor Oleh Kiper.

The attacks come one day after an intense Russian bombardment using drones and missiles damaged critical port infrastructure in Odesa, including grain and oil terminals. The attack destroyed at least 60,000 tons of grain.

Russia’s attacks on southern Ukraine have become more intense this week, after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain to countries facing the threat of hunger.

In the Russian-annexed territory of Crimea, “an enemy drone” attacked a settlement in the peninsula’s northwest, damaging several administrative buildings and killing a teenage girl, the region’s Moscow-appointed governor Sergei Aksyonov reported Thursday.