Russia hits Odesa with massive missile-drone attack for second straight day, injuring at least 24
On the night and morning of September 13, Russian forces struck Odesa and Odesa Oblast with a combined missile and drone attack, damaging multi-storey residential buildings, private houses, warehouses, two schools, a children's sanatorium and the Botanical Garden. Ukrainian officials reported the casualty count rising through the day to 24 injured, including two children. Rescue operations at a 25-storey building hit the previous morning were completed the same day, with two people confirmed killed.
Key points
- Russian forces struck Odesa and Odesa Oblast overnight and into the morning of September 13 with a combined missile and drone attack.
- Damage included multi-storey residential buildings, private houses, warehouses, garages, two educational institutions, an automobile service centre, a children's sanatorium and the Botanical Garden.
- The State Emergency Service reported 24 people injured, including two children, with one patient in serious condition; the toll rose progressively through the day.
- It was the second direct hit on a multi-storey residential building in Odesa within 24 hours.
- Search and rescue at a 25-storey building struck on the morning of September 12 were completed on September 13; two bodies were recovered and 25–26 people were injured, including a 5-month-old child.
- A Russian Kalibr cruise missile destroyed the Odesa apartment of Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska in the September 12 strike.
- More than 120 rescuers were deployed to deal with the aftermath of the September 13 attack.
- The broader overnight assault across Ukraine involved 453 Shahed-type drones and "Banderole" cruise missiles, of which 409 were reported shot down.
Why it matters
The strikes marked the second time in 24 hours that a multi-storey residential building in Odesa was hit directly, and they damaged a wide swath of civilian infrastructure across the city, from homes and schools to a children's sanatorium and the Botanical Garden. The progressive rise in the official casualty count through the day, and the destruction of tennis player Dayana Yastremska's apartment by a Kalibr cruise missile, underscored the continuing human cost of the Russian campaign against Ukrainian cities.
What happened
On the night of September 12–13 and into the morning of September 13, Russian forces carried out a massive combined missile and drone attack on Odesa and Odesa Oblast. Multi-storey residential buildings, private houses, warehouses, garages, two educational institutions, an automobile service centre and a children's sanatorium were damaged, and a fire broke out on the territory of the Botanical Garden. Odesa City Military Administration head Serhiy Lysak initially reported five injured, then nine, then 20, then 22; the State Emergency Service later put the figure at 24, including two children, with one patient in serious condition. Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Oblast Military Administration, said the strikes were continuous and described a fire on the Botanical Garden grounds.
The assault came a day after a Russian missile strike around 5:30 a.m. on September 12 hit a 25-storey residential building in Odesa, setting apartments on floors 21 through 23 ablaze. According to most sources, 26 people were injured, including a 5-month-old child; a later State Emergency Service summary reported 25 injured, including a child. Rescuers saved seven people, two of them children. A body was recovered from the rubble on the evening of September 12, raising the death toll to two; search-and-rescue operations at the building were completed on September 13. Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska said a Russian Kalibr cruise missile directly destroyed her apartment in the September 12 strike, with only a Roland Garros souvenir towel surviving.
On the evening of September 12, a Russian drone also struck a Nova Poshta postal branch in Odesa Oblast, injuring two civilians. Around 22:00 the same evening, an explosion was heard in Mykolaiv, and parts of the city lost power, according to acting Mykolaiv OVA head Heorhii Reshetilov. The overnight assault on Ukraine as a whole involved 453 Shahed-type strike drones and "Banderole" cruise missiles, of which 409 were reported intercepted.
Where reporting differs
Casualty figures from the September 13 attack on Odesa rose through the day: Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper initially reported no casualties, then Odesa MVA head Serhiy Lysak reported 5 injured, 9 seeking medical help, then 20 injured (including two children), then 22 (including two children, one in serious condition), and the State Emergency Service later put the figure at 24 (including two children). For the September 12 strike on the 25-storey Odesa building, most sources reported 26 injured including a 5-month-old child, while later State Emergency Service summaries reported 25 injured including a child. Separately, some accounts put the number injured in the broader September 12 mass strike on Odesa Oblast at 35, distinct from the city-level 25-storey building figures.
Background
Russian forces have repeatedly struck Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure across regions using strike drones, missiles, guided aerial bombs and MLRS, according to reporting in the supplied facts, and Ukrainian authorities and international organizations have classified such strikes on civilian infrastructure as war crimes. In the lead-up to the September 13 attack, the Air Force had reported "Banderole" (Shahed-type) loitering munitions heading toward Odesa before the midnight explosions were heard.