At least three people have been injured so far in the Ukrainian city of Odessa as a result of the massive nighttime drone attack by Russian forces, the head of the city's military administration, Serhiy Lysak, announced on his channel in the "Telegram" application, BTA reported.
"Unfortunately, we have serious destruction of civilian infrastructure. Damage was caused to several apartment blocks and private houses. Large-scale fires broke out at the site of the strikes," Lysak informed. A church in the central part of the city was also damaged, as well as a kindergarten.
Employees of the State Emergency Service rescued people from the blocked premises, including a child, the head of the city's military administration specified, adding that many of the affected residents have been evacuated.
"The situation is the most difficult in one of the affected places in the Hadzhibeysky district of the city - part of a residential building has been destroyed there. It is possible that there are people under the rubble. Search and rescue operations do not stop for a minute," Lisak noted. All emergency services and operational headquarters are working on site. Information about the damage is being clarified.
The Bulgarians in the Odessa region number over 150,000 people and are the third largest according to the latest official census in Ukraine. In the city of Odessa itself, 50-60 thousand Bulgarians live. The largest Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolgrad, Izmail and Belgorod-Dniester regions.
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators are expected to resume on Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday, urging allies not to ease pressure on Moscow, Reuters reported. Zelensky said in his evening statement that the two sides had discussed steps to end the war and how this should be monitored during talks last weekend in Abu Dhabi. He added that it would be good to resume these talks even before Sunday.
Zelensky stressed that Ukraine has always been and will always be on the side of peace. He noted that Russia is the only country for which this war is still ongoing, Ukrinform added. "Pressure is needed. It is the pressure and its consequences - the result of the sanctions, the result of the blocking of Russian operations, all of this works to stop the war," he added.