site.btaUPDATED Ballistic Missiles Strike Odesa

Odesa has once again been attacked with ballistic missiles from Crimea, Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov reported on Telegram.

Sirens were sounded at 11:14 a.m. Locals were urged to hide in bomb shelters.

Explosions echoed in the city at 11:58 a.m. According to preliminary information, a target was struck. Civil infrastructure in the central part of the city, mostly to residential blocks, was damaged, local Telegram channels report. Three residential blocks and two administrative buildings were damaged, while a residential building and nearly 20 cars are on fire.

There have been casualties, the head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration Oleh Kiper reported. At least ten people were killed and 39 others including four children were injured in the Russian missile attack. Residential buildings are on fire.

Local Telegram channels also report that a second missile was shot down over the city. It fell on school premises but did not explode.

Bulgarians in the Odesa region number more than 150,000 and were the third largest population group in Ukraine in 2001, according to the official census. About 50,000 - 60,000 Bulgarians live in the city of Odesa itself. The largest compact Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts.