site.btaUPDATED Loud Explosions Heard in Odesa, City Under Ballistic, Cruise Missile Attack

The Ukrainian coastal city of Odesa and the Odesa Province were attacked with ballistic and cruise missiles. Loud explosions were heard. An air raid alert went on at 1:13 a.m. on Wednesday and continued for more than three hours, local Telegram channels report.

Local authorities urged all residents of Odesa and the Odesa Province to remain sheltered.

Oleg Kipper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, wrote on Telegram that "the aggressor aimed at port infrastructure in Odesa Province". He said that two people were killed: a truck driver and a security guard. The attack caused damage to warehouses, freight transport facilities and a civilian ship, Kipper said adding that there is a leak from the ship.

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.