Russia Strikes Port of Odesa During Greek Prime Minister's Tour

On Wednesday morning, Russian forces launched a missile strike on a target at the port of Odesa while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was taking a tour of the waterfront. 

Mitsotakis told reporters at a joint conference that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had just finished showing him around the port when a Russian missile hit nearby. Local reports put the time of the attack at about 1040 hours. 

"As we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion," he told the press. "I think this is one more reason why all European leaders should come to Ukraine . . . It’s completely different to experience the war first hand."

A member of Mitsotakis' cabinet, Stavros Papastavrou, told Kathimerini that the blast was only about 150 yards away from the delegation. None of the guests were harmed, and they drove onward to visit the site of another Russian strike - an attack on an apartment building that killed seven adults and five children on Saturday. 

The strike on the port on Wednesday morning killed about five people, Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk told Ukrainska Pravda. He said that the exact number may change as the response continues. 

In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the strike was aimed at a hangar used for Ukraine's unmanned drone boats, which have damaged or sunk multiple Russian warships over the past year.