The Ukrainian port city of Odessa was again attacked by Russian missiles early Sunday, just hours before President Vladimir Putin was due to hold a summit with his staunch Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko.
At the meeting in St. Petersburg, the two want to discuss the “strategic partnership and alliance” between their countries, according to the Kremlin.
It will be the first time they have met since Lukashenko helped end a dramatic mutiny by Russian Wagner Group mercenaries.
Hours before their meeting, the Russians attacked Odessa, which had been bombed several times since the invasion began.
“Unfortunately, one civilian died in the night terror attack by the Russians on Odessa,” said regional governor Oleh Kiper in the Telegram.
He previously reported “18 casualties, including four children” in a Russian attack at 3:00 a.m. (00:00 GMT).
“Fourteen people were hospitalized at the city’s hospitals, three of whom were children,” he said.
Ukraine’s Southern Task Force said Odessa was attacked with at least five types of missiles, including Kalibr cruise missiles.
“Air defense forces destroyed a significant part of the missiles,” it said.
“The rest caused damage to the port infrastructure” and several buildings, it said, adding that a rocket hit the Orthodox Cathedral in the city center.
The Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa was damaged, according to a video posted by the city hall on its Telegram channel.
Nineteen people, including four children, were injured in the night’s attack, according to the army.
The strategic port has come under repeated attacks since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal last week.
Drone attack in Crimea
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, repeated Kiev’s call for more missiles and defense systems after the recent attack on Odessa.
“The enemy must be deprived of the ability to attack civilians and infrastructure. More anti-missile systems, as well as ATACMS – that will help Ukraine,” he said on Telegram, referring to the long-range tactical missiles that Kiev wants to deliver from Washington.
Odessa has been bombed several times since the invasion began, and in January the United Nations UNESCO Cultural Agency declared the city’s historic center a World Heritage Site in Danger.
Kiev has accused Russia of targeting the grain shipments and infrastructure crucial for a resumption of Ukraine’s grain exports.
Moscow has claimed it only targeted military sites.
The attack on Odessa comes a day after a Ukrainian drone strike blew up an ammunition depot in Crimea, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding population and the temporary suspension of rail services on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Moscow also blamed the West and Kiev for the death of a Russian war correspondent in the southern Zaporizhia region. It said he was killed by cluster munitions and pledged “accountability” against those responsible.
The attack was aimed at “military installations,” a Ukrainian army source told AFP.
Russia’s attack on Odessa comes days after Moscow said its forces had been conducting sharp cruise missile fire drills in the Black Sea, where tensions have been rising since the expiry of a key export deal that allowed grain to be safely transported from Ukrainian ports.
Northeast of Odessa, in the Zaporizhia region, home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, Russian forces repelled “three attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine towards Rabotino,” Russia’s TASS news agency reported, citing the head of the armed forces’ press center Oleg Chekhov.
He said Ukrainian “tanks, infantry fighting vehicles” and personnel were “destroyed”.
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was seized by Russian forces in the first days of the invasion.