- Odesa first responders were hit by a second missile while rescuing victims of a Russian missile attack on a home, killing 14 people.
- Odesa has been under increasing attack by Russia since last summer.
- The port city of Odesa has historical and cultural ties to Russia, but has been the site of conflict since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
First responders arriving at the scene of a Russian missile attack on a home in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Friday were themselves hit by a second missile, officials said. Among the 14 people killed were paramedics and paramedics.
Officials said 46 other people were injured in the attack on a house in the port city.
The attack came as Russians voted in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend the rule of President Vladimir Putin, who has suppressed dissent, for another six years, and the war in Ukraine enters its third year. .
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The attack damaged at least 10 houses and some emergency service equipment in Odesa and caused fires, according to the Ukrainian Emergency Services Agency and regional governor Oleh Kiper.
On March 15, 2024, emergency services were called to the scene of a Russian attack in Odessa, Ukraine. At least 14 people were killed and 46 injured in a Russian missile attack on Odesa in southern Ukraine on Friday, local officials said. (Ukraine Emergency Services via AP Photo)
The tactic of firing a second missile at the same location with the hope of hitting a rescue worker is known in military parlance as a double tap. Such attacks often hit civilians.
Kuiper announced that a day of remembrance will be held in Odesa on Saturday. This is the second time within two weeks.
On March 2, a Russian drone struck a skyscraper, killing 12 people, including five children.
Since last summer, Russia has stepped up its attacks on Odesa, a southern port city with a population of about 1 million people.
The attacks primarily targeted port infrastructure and were aimed at disrupting the export of goods after Ukraine carried out a series of successful operations in the Black Sea to restore maritime navigation.
Moscow officials also claimed they were targeting facilities where Ukrainian maritime drones are stored to attack Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
The port in the Odessa region was key to last year’s international agreement that allows Ukraine and Russia to ship grain to other parts of the world.
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The city’s residents primarily speak Russian, and its past includes some of Russia’s most revered figures, including Catherine the Great, writer Leo Tolstoy, and poet Anna Akhmatova. Its Orthodox cathedral belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate, and its beaches were beloved by Russian tourists, at least until the Kremlin illegally annexed nearby Crimea in 2014.
Meanwhile, in the Russian border region of Belgorod, one member of the regional defense forces was killed and two others injured in Ukrainian shelling on Friday, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced.
Two people were also killed and three injured in central Ukraine overnight after Russia attacked a building with a drone, according to Ukrainian Governor Serhiy Borzov.
The Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had shot down all 27 Shahed drones launched by Russia over the Kharkov, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytsky and Kiev regions.
