Russia launches waves of overnight attacks on Odesa

Russia launched three waves of overnight drone and missile attacks on the southern Ukraine port of Odesa, but the Ukrainian Air Force rebuffed the attacks, Ukrainian officials said Monday. 

Russia launched 15 Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles, the Ukrainian Air Force said in a Telegram post. The Ukrainian Air Force said it used anti-aircraft guided missiles and small arms to intercept the attacks. 

Falling debris from the intercepted attack damaged a dormitory of an educational building in the city, a residential building and a supermarket, where two people were hospitalized, Gov. Oleh Kiper said in a Telegram post. Kiper said the blast waves damaged more than 200 buildings and several parked cars while three fires also broke out. The Ukrainian Air Force said rescuers are working to address the fires. 

Neither Kiper nor the Ukrainian Air Force’s claims could be independently verified. 

Monday’s attacks come amid Russia’s repeated assaults on Odesa, a key hub for exporting grain. Moscow announced last month it would suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukraine to export wheat from its southern ports via the Bosporus. Prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine was considered one of the world’s largest wheat exporters.

Earlier Sunday, a Russian warship fired shots at a cargo ship in the Black Sea that was heading to Ukraine. In a statement to Russia’s news agency Tass, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it fired warning shots after the cargo ship would not stop for inspection. Once the cargo ship was “forcibly stopped,” it was inspected and then continued to the Ukrainian port of Izmail. 

The Associated Press contributed.