Russian Strikes Kill 2 Women in Odesa, Injure 6 Others

Russian strikes on Odesa killed two women and injured six people on Friday morning, Nov. 13, damaging private homes and cars and sparking a house fire, local officials said. Regional Governor Oleh Kiper reported two deaths and initially said five people had been hospitalized. Odesa regional prosecutor’s spokeswoman Inna Verba later told Suspilne that six people were injured.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “Unfortunately, the death toll from the attack on Odesa has risen to two,” Kiper wrote, expressing condolences to the victims’ families. Verba identified those killed as women aged 44 and 50. She said the injured were four women aged between 47 and 73 and two men aged 24 and 42. According to Verba’s later account, all six were hospitalized with injuries of moderate severity. Kiper had earlier described two of the five people in his initial injury count as being in serious condition. What was damaged in Odesa? Kiper’s first morning update reported damage to a private residential building and a fire, with no immediate information about casualties. He subsequently reported another Russian strike on the city, saying private homes and passenger cars had been damaged. His initial report of one death was later revised to two. The State Emergency Service (DSNS) said a one-story private house was damaged and caught fire. Firefighters extinguished the blaze. At another address, an impact in an open area damaged 11 passenger cars, the emergency service said. DSNS psychologists were also working at the scene. Other Topics of Interest Finland and Norway have moved to block Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing on their soil, citing Moscow’s war against Ukraine and concerns that Russia uses international sports to spread wartime propaganda. Kiper said rescuers and other emergency services were responding to the affected locations as authorities assessed the damage. Separate attack injures 4 in southern Odesa region The morning strikes followed a separate Russian attack on the southern part of the Odesa region on Thursday evening, Nov. 12. Kiper said the attack hit a production building at a furniture business, starting a fire. Four people suffered burns of varying severity, and two were hospitalized. According to the DSNS account reported by Suspilne, the attack also damaged windows in an apartment building and two cars. A truck and trailer were destroyed. The fire spread across approximately 1,300 square meters (14,000 square feet). More than 20 rescuers were involved in extinguishing it. Those casualties were reported separately from the people killed and injured in Friday morning’s attacks on Odesa. Rising death tolls across Odesa region On Nov. 11, a Russian drone struck a market in central Chornomorsk, another city in the Odesa region, killing three people and injuring others. Kiper initially reported one death following that attack. Two people hospitalized in critical condition subsequently died, bringing the toll to three. The strike also damaged nearby homes and vehicles, while a private residential building caught fire. Kiper described the market as crowded at the time of the attack. Earlier that week, a Russian strike on an infrastructure facility in Odesa killed three people and seriously injured another on Nov. 9, according to city authorities. That attack came two days after a separate strike killed one person and damaged municipal infrastructure in Odesa. The Nov. 7 attack also ignited a non-residential building and shattered windows in nearby private homes. Attacks on energy infrastructure in the region on Nov. 10-11 also triggered emergency power cuts. Regional authorities reported at the time that approximately 135,000 consumers had lost electricity in parts of the Bolhrad, Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi and Odesa districts. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.