KYIV: Ukraine stepped up attacks behind Russian lines on Wednesday (Mar 6) with the apparent killing of a Russian election official in a car bomb and a drone assault on a metals plant.
Deadly Russian strikes also rocked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa during a visit by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who was holding talks there with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia and Ukraine have increased their aerial attacks as Moscow’s troops advance on the front lines and Kyiv faces a shortage of manpower and weapons.
“We heard the sound of sirens and explosions that took place near us. We did not have time to get to a shelter. It is a very intense experience,” Mitsotakis said through a translator in Odesa.
Ukraine’s navy told AFP the attack on port infrastructure killed five people and left an unspecified number wounded.
Spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk confirmed the strike came as the Greek delegation was visiting the port with Zelenskyy.
Russian forces “don’t care whether (targets) are military or civilians, whoever they are, whether they are international guests, these people don’t care,” Zelenskyy said.
The Russian defence ministry claimed a strike on a “hangar in a commercial port area of Odesa in which crewless cutters were being prepared for combat use by the Ukrainian armed forces”.
The hit comes just days after 12 people, including five children, were killed when a Russian drone hit an apartment block in the Black Sea city, one of the deadliest attacks on civilians for weeks.
