At least two people were killed in the Ukrainian city of Odesa overnight into Tuesday morning amid another night of intense nationwide Russian drone and missile strikes.
Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched a total of 322 “air attack vehicles” into the country, among them 315 drones and seven missiles. The air force said 277 drones were shot down or otherwise neutralized, as were seven missiles.
Kyiv’s military administration said that at least four people were injured. “The majority of the damage was sustained by civilian infrastructure,” the administration wrote in a post to Telegram.
Two people were also killed in Odesa, local authorities said, with nine others injured. Among the buildings hit in the Black Sea coastal city were a maternity hospital and an emergency medical center, officials said.
Closer to the front, local officials said that three people were killed and eight injured in the eastern Donetsk region by artillery fire and drone attacks. One person was killed and eight injured in the southern city of Kherson, local authorities said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post to social media that Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Chernihiv regions were targeted. Russia’s bombardment included at least two North Korean-made ballistic missiles, he added.
“Residential buildings and urban infrastructure were damaged,” Zelenskyy wrote. “In Odesa, even a maternity hospital became a Russian target. Thirteen people were injured. Tragically, there are fatalities. My condolences to the families.”
“It is vital that the response to this and other similar Russian attacks is not silence from the world, but concrete action,” Zelenskyy said in his statement.
“Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace,” he continued. “Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong. Action from others around the world who called for diplomacy and an end to the war — and whom Russia has ignored. There must be strong pressure for the sake of peace.”
Ukraine continued its own drone strike campaign overnight, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry. Russian forces downed 103 Ukrainian drones on Monday night and Tuesday morning, the ministry said in a post to Telegram.
Monday night’s attacks came 24 hours after Russian forces targeted regions throughout Ukraine with more than 470 attack drones — one of the largest aerial strikes of the war, according to Ukraine’s air force.
Earlier Monday, Russia and Ukraine held the first stage of a prisoner swap following an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul, Turkey.