site.btaAir Raid Alert Issued in Odesa

An air raid alert was issued in Odesa and the region at 12:03 pm on Thursday, Odessa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram. Local authorities urged the residents to shelter in safe places. 

Minutes after the alert was issued, local Telegram channels reported an explosion in the area and a target hit. There is still no official confirmation. 

The threat of a missile attack remains.

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.