Eighteen killed in attack near Ukraine’s Odessa

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KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Eighteen people died Thursday in an air strike on a military base near Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odessa, the local administration said.

“Eighteen died — eight men and 10 women. At the moment, we are still digging through the rubble,” the Odessa regional administration said in a statement.

The attack came on the first day of an invasion of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin launched after sparring for weeks with the West about NATO’s presence in eastern Europe.

It was the deadliest single strike so far of the day reported by Ukrainian officials, who had earlier put the death toll across the country at around 50, including about 10 civilians.

A rocket body stuck into a road after recent shelling on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv on February 24, 2022. – Russian President Vladimir Putin launched ‘special operations’ in Ukraine on Thursday, forcing residents to flee for their lives and leaving at least 40 Ukrainian soldiers and 10 civilians dead, according to initial reports. Russian air strikes hit military facilities across the country and ground forces moved in from the north, south and east, triggering condemnation from Western leaders and warnings of massive sanctions. (Photo by Sergey BOBOK / AFP)

The attack struck a military base about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Odessa, in a region near Ukraine’s border with Moldova.


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