Ukraine says Russian strike on Odesa ‘in retaliation’ for Black Sea HQ attack

Ukraine said on Monday that the Russian strike on Odesa was “in retaliation” for Kyiv’s missile attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol last week.

“Russian missiles struck a hotel in Odesa last night. A pathetic attempt at retaliation for our successful hit on the Russian Navy HQ in Sevastopol,” the Ukrainian defense ministry said on X.

The Operational Command South reported early on Monday that Ukraine’s air defense forces shot down 19 Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones and 11 Kalibr cruise missiles launched by Russia.

“At night, the enemy launched 19 Shahed-136/131-type attack drones and two Onyx supersonic missiles at Odesa. They also launched 12 Kalibr missiles that flew along complex routes in different areas,” the General Staff said.

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One missile was intercepted over Mykolayiv region and another one in Kirovohrad region, while the rest were downed over Odesa region.

However, port infrastructure was hit in the Russian attack. “The sea station in Odesa suffered significant damage. A fire broke out in the building of the sea station hotel, which has been out of service for several years. Firefighters promptly put the blaze out.”

Ukraine had launched a missile attack on the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea navy in the Crimean port of occupied Sevastopol on Friday.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said at the time: “This day, Ukraine’s Air Force struck the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet command in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol, 12 times hit enemy manpower and equipment clusters, and four times – the enemy's anti-aircraft missile systems. Two anti-aircraft missile systems and four artillery pieces were destroyed by Ukraine’s missile forces.”

Chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said that at least nine people had been killed and 16 wounded, including Russian generals, as a result of the attack.

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