Bombing of Odesa (2022–present)

During the southern Ukraine offensive of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the city of Odesa and the surrounding region have been the target of shelling and air strikes by Russian forces on multiple occasions since the conflict began, fired predominantly from Russian warships situated offshore in the Black Sea. The city has also been targeted by Russian cruise missiles.

For other military conflicts involving Odesa, see Battle of Odesa.

Odesa strikes
Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Aftermath of a Russian missile strike against warehouses in Odesa on 24 February
Date24 February 2022 (2022-02-24) – present
(1 year, 8 months and 1 day)
Location
Odesa, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine
Belligerents
 Russia  Ukraine
Units involved

 Russian Armed Forces

 Ukrainian Armed Forces

Territorial Defense Forces
Casualties and losses
Per Russia: 1 sailor killed, 27 missing[1]
Moskva sunk[2]
1 Mi-8 helicopter lost		 27+ servicemen killed, 6+ wounded[3][4][5]
1 Mi-14 helicopter lost[5]
1 aircraft lost
----
1 warship (Russian claim)[6]
31 civilians killed, 63–65 wounded[7][8][9][10]

Timeline

2022
Equipment seized from alleged Russian saboteurs in Odesa, 27 February

The first Russian airstrikes against Odesa occurred on the first day of the invasion, early on 24 February 2022, targeting warehouses in the city as well as radar and air defense systems in Lipetske. The attacks left at least 22 killed and 6 wounded among servicemen and soldiers.[3][4] Ukrainian authorities also reported that Russian shelling targeted the military airport in Odesa and destroyed one aircraft.[11] Russian saboteurs had begun operating in Odesa by 27 February, as Ukrainian authorities detained them and confiscated their equipment. Evacuation trains began taking civilians out of the city towards Chernivtsi and Uzhhorod on 2 March, with further evacuation trains operating on 8 March.[12]

At around 12:00 local time on 2 March 2022, Russian forces shelled the village of Dachne to the north-west of Odesa, damaging a natural gas pipeline and setting fire to nine houses and a garage. This was followed on 3 March by the shelling of the nearby villages of Zatoka[13] and Bilenke, killing at least one civilian in the latter village.[14] Russian warships also shelled the Ukrainian civilian vessel Helt in the port of Odesa, causing it to sink.[15]

On 5 March 2022, one Russian Mil Mi-8 of registration number RF-91165 was destroyed near Odesa.[16][17] A new brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine was founded in Odesa on 8 March, after initial complaints by civilians in the city wishing to join the defence force of a lack of organisation as they were sent home without weapons.[18]

Russian attacks in Odesa intensified towards the end of March. During the morning of 21 March 2022, Russian warships reappeared offshore and began shelling targets in Odesa including the port, before Ukrainian coastal artillery returned fire and drove them back out into the Black Sea.[19] On 25 March, Ukrainian air defences claimed to shot down three cruise missiles over the Black Sea which were on course to strike targets in and around Odesa.[20] Ukraine claimed two more Russian cruise missiles were shot down off the coast of Odesa on 27 March,[21] although the city subsequently came under heavy mortar fire according to a statement on Telegram by Serhii Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa military administration.[22]

On 13 April 2022, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych and Odesa governor Maksym Marchenko said that the Russian cruiser Moskva, flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, had been hit by two Neptune anti-ship missiles and was on fire in rough seas.[2] The missiles were apparently launched in or near Odesa at Moskva located 60 to 65 nautical miles offshore.[23][24] The Russian Ministry of Defence said that a fire had caused munitions to explode, and that the ship had been seriously damaged and the crew fully evacuated, without any reference to a Ukrainian strike.[25] The following day, the ship sunk as it was attempting to reach port for repairs.[2] Russia stated one sailor from the Moskva was killed and 27 were missing, while 396 crewmembers were rescued.[1] However, according to Ukrainian sources, there were anywhere from 500 to 700 crewmembers on board, and that only 100 of them had survived.[26]

On 23 April 2022, a Russian missile strike hit a military facility and two residential buildings,[27] killing eight civilians and wounding 18 or 20, according to Ukraine.[9] Russia confirmed the attack stating the facility targeted was a logistic terminal at a military airfield that housed US and European weapons given to Ukraine.[28]

Shopping mall in Fontanka village near Odesa, destroyed on 9 May

On 27 April 2022, Russian forces attacked Zatoka Bridge with the aim of disconnecting the city of Odesa with the rest of the country at the east of Dniester river.[29]

On 1 May 2022, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Russian forces destroyed the newly built runway of the Odesa Airport. Ukrainian officials said Russian forces used a Bastion missile for the attack.[30] The city was bombed again on 7 May, with four missiles hitting a civilian building and another two on the city airport.[31] On 7 May, a Ukrainian Naval Aviation Mil Mi-14, piloted by Col. Igor Bedzai was shot down near Odesa by a Russian jetfighter after a mission on Snake Island, five servicemen were lost.[32][5][33]

On 9 May 2022, Russia fired three Kinzhal missiles to Odesa Oblast. At that time, President of the European Council Charles Michel and Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal were in Odesa and had to hide in a bomb shelter. In the evening of the same day, Russian troops fired rockets at three warehouses in Odesa and a shopping centre in the village of Fontanka near the city. One person was killed, and two people were injured in the warehouses, and three people were injured in the mall.[34]

In the night between 30 June and 1 July 2022, three Kh-22 missiles fired from Tu-22M strategic bombers were fired into a 9-store apartment building and an recreational center in the settlement Serhiivka, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Raion, Odesa Oblast. The whole section of the apartment building was destroyed. At least 21 people were killed and more than 38 wounded.[35][36]

On 23 July 2022, less than a day after signing a grain export deal with Ukraine, Russia launched Kalibr missiles at the Odesa sea trade port. According to Ukraine, two of the four missiles were intercepted.[37] Russian officials told Turkey that Russia had "nothing to do" with the missile strike.[38] The next day, Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defence, confirmed the strike, claiming that it destroyed a Ukrainian warship and a warehouse of Harpoon anti-ship missiles.[6]

As of 26 July 2022, as a result of rocket attacks in Odesa, eleven civilians were killed: eight (including a three-month-old girl) as a result of an attack on the residential complex "Tiras" on 23 April; one teenager during the attack on the dormitory on 2 May, one employee of the warehouse during the attack on the Suvorovsky district of Odesa on 9 May and a warehouse guard on 20 June.[39]

2023
Transfiguration Cathedral after missile attack on 23 July

In the night on 19 July 2023, Russia carried out further missile and drone attacks on the Port of Odesa after withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Grain and oil terminals were damaged. The Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture claims 60,000 tonnes of grain were destroyed in the attacks.[40]

In the night on July 20, a new attack destroyed an administrative building in Odesa and storage buildings in Odesa region. Among others, the building of the Chinese Consulate General[41] and three museums in the buffer zone of the World Heritage site “The Historic Centre of Odesa” (Archaeological, Maritime and Museum of Literature) were damaged. UNESCO condemned the attack.[42][43]

On July 22/23 Russian missiles hit Odesa, including the historic centre, again. 25 architectural monuments were damaged according to local authorities.[44] Transfiguration Cathedral, largest in the city, was partially destroyed. The cathedral was of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate, which has headquarters in Russia.[45][46] The House of Scientists was also strongly damaged. At least 6 residential buildings were damaged; one person was killed and 19 injured.[47]

International reactions

Denise Brown, UN official and the Head of the United Nations in Ukraine, condemned Russian attacks on grain storage facilities and port infrastructure, aggravating global food security: "Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be respected – they should never be a target".[48][49] The UN called Russian bombing of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Odesa a possible war crime.[50]

Amnesty International also condemned Russian attacks on Odesa: "...Russia’s threat to treat all ships travelling to Ukrainian ports through the Black Sea as carriers of military equipment reveals its readiness to strip those most in need of critical food supplies for its own military aims and sends a clear message that Russian forces are prepared to commit new war crimes. By stepping up its war of aggression in this manner, Russia is holding some of the world’s lowest income countries hostage to its military and political agenda."[51]

See also

References
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