site.btaOdesa and Odesa Region Attacked by Drones, Explosions Heard

Odesa and Odesa Region were attacked by drones from the Black Sea early on Friday, local Telegram channels reported.

An air raid alert was declared in Odesa and the region at 01:40 am, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, wrote on Telegram.

The local authorities advised residents of the city of Odesa and Odesa Region to take shelter. Loud explosions were heard around the city.

The threat of a Russian air attack on Odesa remains.

Odesa Region is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people, according to an official population census in Ukraine in 2001. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians live in the regional capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the province are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.