site.btaUPDATED Three Injured during Attack on Odesa

Three men were injured during Monday's Russian attack on Odesa, Regional Governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram. The men aged 19, 50 and 58 were hospitalized.

Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov Monday said an air alert was issued in the city and the district around it due to a threat of missile attack from the Black Sea. The sirens went off at 7.49 am. The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram Odesa was attacked by two ballistic missiles which were shot down by the Ukrainian air defence.

A large black cloud can be seen over the city after the blasts, local accounts on Telegram reported.

Bulgarians in Odesa District number over 150,000 and are the third largest community according to the official census in Ukraine of 2001. The largest Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts.