KYIV: The toll from a massive Russian attack that set apartments alight and knocked out heating to thousands in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odesa rose to one dead and 10 wounded, authorities said Friday.
The Thursday night strikes on the Black Sea city damaged residential buildings, the heating system, churches and educational institutions, according to Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, who said it had been “a massive combined enemy strike”.
Trukhanov said early Friday that a 35-year-old woman sleeping near a window at the time of the attack had died.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said another 10 people were wounded, including two children.
Fires broke out in several places but were quickly extinguished, while the main heating pipeline was damaged, leaving tens of thousands in the cold as nightly temperatures plunge to freezing.
“More than 40,000 people (as well as) medical and social institutions are without heating,” Trukhanov wrote on Telegram. “Generators and heaters are working in medical institutions.”
The mayor’s office said hot drinks and blankets were being distributed while the pipeline was restored.
After fleeing during the air raid siren, Odesa resident Oleksandra said she saw pictures of her damaged home.
“When everything happened, we were hiding in a shelter. We saw that this was our house in the photos from the local channels,” she told public broadcaster Suspilne Odesa.
Ukraine is bracing for its toughest winter of war yet, with Moscow having destroyed swathes of its generating capacity and continuing to strike energy sites.
In previous winters, millions of Ukrainians endured regular blackouts and lost heating in sub-zero conditions.
The attack on Odesa, which has frequently been targeted since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022, is the latest in an uptick in strikes on Ukrainian cities, mainly in the south of the war-battered country.
Ukrainian forces are losing ground in the east and concerns are mounting in Kyiv over the future of foreign military aid after the victory of Donald Trump in the United States presidential election.
Kyiv has for months been appealing to its Western allies to provide more air-defence systems to fend off Russian attacks on cities and critical infrastructure.