A firefighter works near a building on fire following drone attacks by Russian forces, at a location given as Odesa, Ukraine, April 21, 2025, in this still image taken from a video. State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Odesa region/Handout via REUTERS
KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces launched a mass overnight drone attack on Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odesa, wounding three people and damaging many apartments, local officials said early on Tuesday.
"The enemy targeted a residential area in a densely populated district of Odesa," Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov wrote on the Telegram messaging app, sharing pictures of a fire blazing and apartment buildings with windows smashed and facades damaged.
Governor Oleh Kiper said that three people were injured in the attack and were receiving medical help.
The Ukrainian air force said on Tuesday that Russia launched 54 drones in an attack overnight, of which 38 were shot down and 16 did not reach their targets, likely due to electronic warfare countermeasures.
Kiper said the attack on Odesa damaged dwellings, civilian infrastructure, an educational institution and vehicles.
Videos shared by the emergency services showed crews putting out a large fire in one of the damaged buildings.
Odesa, with its three ports, has been a frequent target of Russian attacks in the more than three-year-old war with Russia.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko in Kyiv, Ron Popeski and Oleksandr Kozhukhar; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Bernadette Baum)
