Kiev (Reuters) – The Ukrainian air force shot down 16 of 20 Iranian ‘Shahed’ drones launched by Russia in its fifth strike this week on the southern Odesa region, regional and military officials said on Friday.
Russia has intensified airstrikes against Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure on the Danube and in the port of Odesa since mid-July, when Moscow pulled out of the UN-brokered deal that allowed safe Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea.
“During the night, the Russian terrorists attacked the Odesa region for the fifth time this week,” Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper told messaging app Telegram.
The military command for the South said fourteen drones were shot down over the Odesa region and two more over the Mykolaiv region. It says the drones were launched from Russia and from Crimea, which was seized and annexed by Russia in 2014.
Kiper said a non-residential building was damaged by debris from a drone, but gave no further details. He reported no casualties in the Odesa region.
Regional officials said Russia had also attacked the southeastern region of Zaporizhia and the northeastern region of Sumy with rockets, injuring several people.
Ukraine’s emergency services said two people were injured in the Sumy region and posted a video showing rescuers pulling an injured woman out of a hole caused by the blast.
A statement said the 65-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man were rescued after a two-story residential building was damaged.
Russia did not immediately comment on the latest attacks.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Olena Harmash, editing by Timothy Heritage)
