Explosions were heard in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhya at 3:03 p.m. on Tuesday, the head of the Zaporizhzhya regional military administration, Ivan Fedorov, said on Telegram. Initial reports suggest that two people were injured, he added.
The Ukrainian military warned that Russian ballistic missiles had been launched from Taganrog.
At 3:01 p.m., an air raid alert was issued in the regions of Zaporizhzhya, Odesa, and Mykolaiv, which are home to the largest Bulgarian communities in Ukraine.
Local authorities urged residents to take cover in bomb shelters until the alert is lifted, as there is a risk of further missile attacks.
According to the 2001 census, the Bulgarian community in Ukraine numbered 204,000. It is concentrated in the regions of Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, Mykolaiv, and Kirovograd. Odesa region is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people. Between 50,000 and 60,000 of them live in the regional capital. Bulgarians in the region are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.
The Bulgarian community in Zaporizhzhya region is estimated at about 30,000 people, with the districts of Primorsky, Melitopolsky, Berdyansky, and Priazovsky being most densely populated. All four of them are currently under occupation.
The first Bulgarian settlers near the city of Mykolaiv established the settlement of Ternovka in 1802. At the beginning of this century, Ternovka became a neighbourhood of the regional center of Mykolaiv. Ternovka is home to some 6,000 Bulgarians.
/DT/
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