Illustrative photo: Odesa on the Black Sea in the early morning on Feb. 24, 2024. (Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Russian forces hit a residential area in Odesa with drones overnight on April 23, wounding seven people, including two children, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces reported.
According to the military, a fire broke out at the site of the attack. At least 14 apartments were damaged in the city following the strike.
First responders have been dispatched to the site and reportedly rescued 34 people, including three children. No details were provided on the extent of the victims' injuries.
Air Force earlier warned about drone threat for Ukraine's Odesa and Kyiv oblasts.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
The Russian strike took place at approximately 8:00 a.m. local time, resulting in the hospitalization of 16 people, two of whom suffered serious injuries.
Russian forces launched 47 Shahed-type drones and decoys, as well as two Iskander-K missiles against Ukraine overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
Ukrainian, U.S., and European senior officials are set to meet in the U.K. ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week, Axios reported on Aug. 8, citing three sources with knowledge of the plans.
The news comes as the U.S. president is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin for a high-level summit on Aug. 15 in Alaska to discuss ways toward ending the war in Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced a sweeping proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine during a meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, offering a halt in hostilities in exchange for Ukraine's eastern regions, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Aug. 8, citing European and Ukrainian officials.
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"The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska," Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that "further details will follow."
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the Order of Lenin award to U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff to pass along to a senior CIA official whose son died fighting for Russia in Ukraine, CBS News reported on Aug. 8.
U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Aug. 8 that a potential peace deal between Moscow and Kyiv would likely include "some swapping of territories," as Trump prepares to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week.
The EU Council approved a regular tranche payment of 3.2 billion euros ($3.7 billion) under the Ukraine Facility mechanism on Aug. 8, a smaller amount than initially planned due to Kyiv's failure to complete key reforms.
Kateryna Denisova
