Russia hits Odesa port during visit by Zelensky, Greek PM
ODESA, Ukraine (Reuters) – A Russian missile missed Ukraine’s president and the prime minister of Greece by hundreds of meters on Wednesday when it slammed into port infrastructure in the Black Sea city of Odesa.
“It seems to me that we have not only heard, we have seen this strike today,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told a news conference alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The attack occurred at an estimated 500 to 800 meter distance from the delegations, sources said.
“You see who we’re dealing with, they don’t care where to hit.”
Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy, told the national news agency Ukrinform that the intended target was Odesa’s port infrastructure. Five people were killed, he said.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Defence Forces, said she believed the presence of the two leaders was coincidental.
“What is happening is that Russia is a terrorist and it is clearly continuing to attack port infrastructure,” Humeniuk told US-funded Radio Liberty.
“Yes, there was a missile strike on Odesa... However, this is in no way connected to a specific visit.”
The Ukrainian air force announced a ballistic missile threat in the region this morning but there were no official reports up until the news conference after the leaders inspected the port and Ukraine’s humanitarian corridor for maritime exports.
Mitsotakis, on his first visit to the country since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, said that during the tour the delegation heard sirens and a big explosion as they headed towards their cars.
“I believe that this is for us the most vivid reminder that there is a real war waging here,” Mitsotakis said, urging European leaders to visit Ukraine to see the impact on civilians.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops attacked a hangar housing Ukrainian naval drones in the port.
Ukraine’s Black Sea port infrastructure has been a constant target for Russian attacks, which have stepped up since mid-July when Moscow quit a UN-brokered deal that allowed safe passage of Ukrainian grain and Kyiv established its own export corridor.
Russia has launched over 880 attack drones and over 170 missiles on Odesa region port infrastructure since then, a Ukrainian navy commander said during the tour.