14 Killed in Russian Rocket Attack on Ukrainian Odesa

Ukrainian officials reported that "a Russian rocket attack today, Friday, hit civilian infrastructure in the Ukrainian city of Odesa on the Black Sea, resulting in the deaths of at least 14 people and injuring 46 others in the most intense Russian assault in weeks." Odesa Governor Oleksiy said on Telegram: "As a result of the Russian rocket attack, 14 people died, including local residents, a paramedic, and a rescuer." He added that the paramedic and the rescuer were killed by a second missile after they arrived to treat the casualties from the first attack. Emergency authorities stated that ten houses, a low-pressure gas pipeline, and emergency vehicles were damaged in the attack. Rescue workers struggled to extinguish fires in the pipeline and one of the houses, covering an area of about 120 square meters. The Odesa region, which houses one of Ukraine's largest ports, has been a repeated target of Russian attacks, especially after Moscow withdrew from a United Nations-brokered agreement that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments to be exported across the Black Sea. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's office, wrote on Telegram: "Russian terrorism in Odesa is a sign of the enemy's weakness, fighting against Ukrainian civilians at a time when it cannot ensure the safety of people on its own territory."