Russian strike on Odesa high-rise kills two, destroys tennis player's family apartment
Russian missile and drone strikes on Odesa and surrounding areas on 12 September damaged a 25-storey residential building, killing two people and injuring 25, according to the final State Emergency Service tally. Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska said a Kalibr cruise missile directly hit her family's apartment in the building. Additional strikes the same day hit a rehabilitation hotel in Chornomorsk, a locomotive depot and residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Key points
- Russian forces carried out a combined ballistic-missile, cruise-missile and drone attack on Odesa and surrounding areas on 12 September
- A 25-storey residential apartment building in Odesa was directly hit; apartments on the 21st–23rd floors caught fire and upper floors were partially destroyed
- Final State Emergency Service toll: 2 dead, 25 injured; rescuers saved 7 people including 2 children
- Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska, 26, ranked WTA No. 113 and a native of Odesa, reported a Kalibr cruise missile directly hit her family's apartment in the building
- A drone struck a hotel with a rehabilitation centre in Chornomorsk, Odesa Oblast, injuring 11 people including six with limited mobility
- A locomotive depot in Odesa Oblast was also hit the same day
- President Zelensky reported 37 injured in the Odesa strike with two people missing; Ukrinform reported 35 injured with two uncontactable across Odesa Oblast
- Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha called on partners to strengthen Ukraine's air defence and to impose harsher sanctions on Russia's military-industrial complex
Why it matters
The strike combined ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat drones in a single massive attack on a major Ukrainian Black Sea port, producing a documented civilian death toll and injuries including minors in a directly-hit residential high-rise. A named Ukrainian professional athlete publicly reported that her family's apartment was destroyed by a Kalibr cruise missile, drawing international media attention to the strike and to Russia's continued targeting of Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure sites — a Chornomorsk rehabilitation hotel, a locomotive depot, and residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia Oblast were all hit the same day. Ukraine's foreign minister used the attack to publicly press for additional air-defence systems and harsher sanctions on Russia's military-industrial complex.
What happened
Russian forces struck Odesa and surrounding areas overnight into 12 September 2026 with a combined attack using ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat drones, according to Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha. In Odesa, a missile directly hit a 25-storey residential apartment building; fires broke out in apartments on the 21st through 23rd floors and upper floors were partially destroyed. Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska, a 26-year-old Odesa native ranked WTA No. 113, reported on Instagram that a Kalibr cruise missile directly hit her family's apartment in the building and posted footage of the burning structure. Rescue teams worked at the site through the day, pulling seven people from the rubble including two children. The State Emergency Service's final count after operations ended was 2 dead and 25 injured. Odesa MVA head Serhiy Lysak reported a body recovered under the rubble; Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper later identified one of the victims as a man born in 1992. The same day's strikes also hit a hotel with a rehabilitation centre in Chornomorsk with a drone, injuring 11 people including six with limited mobility, and a locomotive depot in Odesa Oblast. President Zelenskyy separately reported two killed and six injured in a drone strike on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian outlets consistently attribute the strike to Russia, using formulations such as 'attack by the Russian Federation' or 'enemy attack' in headlines. Reporting centres domestic official voices — President Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Sybiha, Odesa MVA head Serhiy Lysak and Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper — alongside State Emergency Service tallies and casualty updates. Ukrainian coverage foregrounds the human impact on civilians, including children, the destruction of a high-rise residential building and the family apartment of a Ukrainian athlete, and frames the attack as continued terror against the civilian population. Foreign Minister Sybiha used the attack to call publicly for additional air-defence systems and interceptors and for harsher sanctions on Russia's military-industrial complex. Several outlets also place the Odesa strike in the broader context of the same wave of attacks: the Chornomorsk rehabilitation-hotel strike, the Odesa Oblast locomotive depot strike, and the Zaporizhzhia residential drone strike.
How international sources describe it
Only one non-Ukrainian source appears in the set — a German-language media article — which frames the event around the destruction of Ukrainian professional tennis player Dayana Yastremska's family apartment in Odesa. Its headline uses the neutral geographic description 'Russian attack on Odesa' rather than Ukrainian domestic political framings such as 'enemy attack' or 'terror against the civilian population,' and the piece foregrounds the profile of the affected athlete (her WTA ranking and Australian Open semifinal run) rather than Ukrainian political figures or institutional responses.
Where reporting differs
Casualty figures for the 25-storey apartment building vary across sources and across the timeline of the day: early reports cited 17 injured and hospitalized, later Odesa MVA updates reported 26 injured including one child, and the State Emergency Service's final tally after rescue operations ended is 2 dead and 25 injured. For Odesa Oblast as a whole, the figures also conflict: Zelenskyy's post reported 37 injured with two more missing, Ukrinform reported 35 injured with two uncontactable, and a separate Ukrinform report cited 16 injured including a child. Sources also differ on the missile type: some describe the strike on the apartment building as a Russian missile strike, while Yastremska's account and other reporting specify a direct hit by a Kalibr cruise missile.
Background
Russian forces have repeatedly struck Odesa, a major Black Sea port, with missiles and drones during the full-scale war. Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska, a 26-year-old Odesa native and former world No. 21, reached the semifinals of the 2024 Australian Open, has won three WTA singles titles and is currently ranked WTA No. 113. After her apartment was destroyed, she used her Instagram post to address the WTA and ITF and criticize their stance on Russian players' participation. Russian tennis players have been permitted to compete internationally under neutral status — the policy Yastremska challenged — and Ukrainian players typically decline to shake hands with Russian opponents after matches. Earlier in the conflict, a padel club belonging to Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina in Kyiv was reported damaged by a Russian strike, in a similar pattern of high-profile civilian-property targeting.