An explosion occurred near the motorcade of Volodymyr Zelensky in Odessa, shortly before the meeting of Kyriakos Mitsotakis with the president of Ukraine.
The explosion took place 150 meters from the Greek mission. According to Reuters, the Russian Defense Ministry said Moscow launched an attack on a hangar with Ukrainian maritime drones in the port of Odessa, adding that “the objective was achieved.”
Five people were killed in the attack. According to local media, Odessa was hit by either an Iskander missile or an Onyx missile.
For its part, Ukraine says that the missile hit the specific point because Odessa is the only outlet for Ukrainian grain and is a critical port as it is the last in the South and the Black Sea.
The moment of attack
In a video-document that came to light, the “mushroom” of fire that was created after the explosion can be seen.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis referred to the attack in the joint statements he made with the president of Ukraine, saying:
“They gave us a tour of the port […] When we heard some sirens and shortly after when we were going to our cars we heard a big explosion. For us it is the best reminder that there is a real war going on here, every day, which does not just affect the front.”
A few minutes after the news of an explosion near the Greek mission became known, government sources stated that “there is no issue with the safety of the prime minister and his mission.”
Contact Dendias with his Ukrainian counterpart
After the situation that developed, the Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias, contacted his Ukrainian counterpart in order to be informed about the security situation in Ukraine.
“Today I had a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov and the Chief of the General Staff of the country’s Armed Forces, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, at their initiative, who informed me about the security situation in Ukraine”
European condemnation of the attack
“The attack in Odessa during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is another sign of Russia’s cowardly tactics in its aggressive war against Ukraine,” said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
“I strongly condemn the abominable attack by Russia in Odessa during the visit of Volodymyr Zelensky and Kyriakos Mitsotakis,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a post on “X”. He emphasizes that “no one is cowed by this new attempt at terrorism – certainly not the two leaders on the ground and not the brave people of Ukraine.”
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