Russian strikes slam into Ukrainian port city of Odesa during visit by Zelensky, Greek PM

Explosions rang out in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa on Wednesday during a visit to the Black Sea hub by President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the pair tell reporters.

“We heard the sound of sirens and explosions that took place near us. We did not have time to get to a shelter,” Mitsotakis says according to an official Ukrainian translation.

“It is a very intense experience… It’s really different to read about the war in newspapers, and to hear it with your own ears, see it with your own eyes,” he adds.

Zelensky says the strike had left “dead and wounded” but he did not have figures.

“You can see who we are facing. They don’t care where they strike,” he says in a joint press conference.

Both were visiting the southern port city of Odesa, which has been under renewed fire ever since Russia exited an agreement protecting Ukrainian exports via the Black Sea in the summer of 2023.