site.btaOdesa Shaken by Powerful Explosions

Loud explosions echoed in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, on the Black Sea. An alert was declared at 11:50 Monday. Three minutes later the city was shaken by blasts.

Local authorities are urging residents to stay in bomb shelters until further notice. Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said on the Telegram app that the city was attacked with ballistic missiles from Crimea.

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