Russian missile strike kills 19 near Ukraine’s Odesa

Russian missiles hit an apartment building and a resort near Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa early on Friday, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens, Ukrainian authorities reported, the latest in a spate of deadly missile strikes.

With its ground forces concentrated in Ukraine’s eastern industrial region of Donbas, Russia has more than doubled the number of missile strikes around the country in the past two weeks, using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles for more than half of the attacks, according to a Ukrainian brigadier general.

#RussiaTerroristState @UN@JosepBorrellF @eucopresident@EmmanuelMacron @OlafScholz
tonight, russian military fired on civilians ... Odessa region, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi... 17 dead pic.twitter.com/UNKZ6UlJ7o

— Ann Tsygichko (@AnnTsygichko) July 1, 2022

One missile struck a nine-story building in the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi at about 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday), causing a fire in an attached store building, the Ukrainian Emergencies Ministry said.

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa regional administration, told Ukrainian state television a rescue operation was underway as some people remained buried under the rubble after part of the building collapsed.

Another missile hit a resort facility, he added, killing at least three people including a child and wounding one more person.

Consequences of the missile strikes in the Odesa region, one of which was launched on a tourist base in the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky district.#Ukrainewar #Ukraine #Odesa pic.twitter.com/uLOvC1BCGl

— Chronology (@Chronology22) July 1, 2022

Over 10,631 civilian casualties (data from June 27), with more than 4,700 killed, have been recorded in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country on February 24.