1 killed, 2 injured in Russian strikes on residential building, gas pipeline in Odesa
Editor's Note: This is a developing story.
Russian forces carried out a series of attacks overnight on Feb. 8-9, killing one person and injuring two others amid a targeted missile and drone attack on multiple Ukrainian cities.
The southern city of Odesa was subject to large-scale drone attack, which local officials reporting damage to "residential infrastructure" in the city.
Ukraine's Air Force reported Russian drones approaching Odesa around 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 9. Public broadcaster Suspilne reported multiple explosions heard in Odesa amid the drone threat.
Odesa City Military Administration head Serhiy Lysak said that a fire broke out at multi-story residential building, adding that a gas pipeline was damaged in the attack. Car fires were also reported in the city.
Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported that a 35-year-old man was killed, and two others, including a 19-year-old woman, were injured in the attack. A total of 21 apartments were damaged in the strike on the residential building in the Prymorskyi district of the city.
At least one person was killed as a result of the Russian drone strike on Odesa, Lysak added.
Earlier in the night, Russian forces also targeted Kyiv in an apparent ballistic missile attack.
Kyiv Independent journalists on the ground reported hearing explosions in the capital around 9 p.m. local time on Feb. 8.
Explosions were first reported about 5:30 p.m. amid a ballistic missile threat. Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko confirmed the attack, saying Ukraine’s air defense was working to intercept the missiles, and officials urged residents to remain in shelters.
Immediately after the attack power went out in at least one district in Kyiv ahead of schedule.
The outcome of the apparent missile attack on Kyiv was not immediately clear and no information was available as to any targets struck in the capital. Ukraine's Air Force waived its ballistic missile warnings just before 9:30 p.m.
The renewed attacks comes amid Russia's ongoing drone and missile campaign against Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which has severely damaged the country's energy grid and forced it to impose lengthy blackouts amid freezing temperatures.
Earlier on Feb. 8, Ukrenergo, the state-grid operator, said that Ukraine’s energy system remains under severe strain, with nuclear plants partially disconnected from the power grid following Russia's mass attack on Ukraine's critical infrastructure overnight on Feb. 7.
One of the worst situations is in Kyiv, where residents have received just one-and-a-half to two hours of power per day for several days. The Feb. 7 attack came ahead of another cold snap in Kyiv, with temperatures expected to drop to –19 degrees Celsius (–2 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coming days, further straining the energy system.
