site.btaExplosions Heard in Odesa

Explosions were heard on Monday evening in Odesa, Ukraine and Odesa Province, said the city Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov on Telegram. An air raid alert was sounded at 11:11 pm due to a threat of missile attack from Crimea.

The local authorities urged the residents to take shelter until the air raid alert is in effect. 

Odesa Province 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 provincial capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the province are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.