Russian overnight strike hits Odesa hospital, school, residential buildings
Russian forces launched a massive combined attack on Odesa and Odesa Oblast overnight into 24 September, damaging a hospital, a gymnasium, residential buildings, a previously struck hypermarket and other civilian infrastructure. Two people were injured. Ukrainian authorities have opened a war-crime investigation.
Key points
- Overnight combined attack on Odesa and Odesa Oblast on 24 September, described as massive by Ukrainian officials
- Hospital damaged: the consultative-diagnostic center of Odesa City Hospital No. 1 in the Khadzhibey district; roof and part of the upper floor hit, about 200 square metres of glazing destroyed, several units suspended through 28 September
- Gymnasium in Odesa damaged, with windows blown out by the blast wave
- Residential buildings hit across Odesa and the oblast, including 10 or more multi-storey buildings in the city and 17 private houses in Odesa's Kyiv district; windows shattered in three private houses in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district
- 10-storey non-residential building caught fire; previously struck Nova Liniia hypermarket hit again, with another large fire later extinguished; food warehouses and cars also damaged
- Two people injured in the Odesa Oblast attack, according to Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper; child and two adults injured in a later daytime strike on the residential sector, per the State Emergency Service
- Odesa City MVA head Serhiy Lysak and Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper reported on damage; Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office is investigating the attack as a war crime
- Air Force of Ukraine said Russia fired Iskander and Tsirkon missiles and 282 drones at Ukraine overnight on 24 September, with Odesa and Kyiv oblasts the main directions; air defence reported downing 7 missiles and 219 UAVs
Why it matters
The strike directly hit civilian social infrastructure in a major Ukrainian city, wounding two people and forcing parts of City Hospital No. 1 — including a diagnostic center, family clinic and women's consultation — to suspend services through 28 September. Ukrainian prosecutors have opened a war-crime investigation, and the Air Force says the overnight barrage, with Odesa and Kyiv oblasts the main target directions, was part of one of Russia's broader cross-Ukraine attacks involving Iskander and Tsirkon missiles and 282 drones.
What happened
Russian forces carried out a massive combined attack on Odesa and Odesa Oblast overnight into Thursday, 24 September, using small-sized cruise missiles dubbed "Banderol" alongside other munitions. A drone struck the seventh floor of the consultative-diagnostic center of Odesa City Hospital No. 1 in the Khadzhibey district, damaging the roof, part of the upper floor and about 200 square metres of glazing; cabinets of the diagnostic center, family outpatient clinic, women's consultation and other units will not operate until Monday, 28 September. A nearby gymnasium had its windows blown out by the blast wave, and residential buildings across the city were hit — initial City MVA reporting put the number of apartment buildings with shattered windows at 10, while the State Emergency Service counted 4 and another count recorded 17 private houses damaged in Odesa's Kyiv district. Windows were also shattered in three private houses in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district. A 10-storey non-residential building caught fire, the previously struck Nova Liniia hypermarket was hit again and another large fire broke out before rescuers extinguished it, food warehouses were damaged and three cars were reported damaged. Odesa City MVA head Serhiy Lysak initially reported no casualties, but Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper and the State Emergency Service later said two people were injured in Odesa Oblast. Operational headquarters were set up at impact sites, communal workers cleared streets and boarded up windows, and residents were offered consultations under the "yeVidnovlennya" state program and the city's "Nezlamna Odesa" municipal program. The Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office is investigating the attack as a war crime. The Air Force of Ukraine said Odesa and Kyiv oblasts were the main directions of the broader overnight strike, in which Russia fired Iskander and Tsirkon missiles and 282 drones; air defence reported downing 7 missiles and 219 UAVs. Russian forces used roughly 15 air-attack assets against Odesa and the region, including about 15 drones. In a later daytime attack on 24 September, residential buildings in several Odesa Oblast settlements were hit and the State Emergency Service reported three people injured — a child and two adults — with a cargo truck destroyed and a fire on the attic floor of a 5-storey building extinguished by rescuers.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All coverage comes from Ukrainian media and agencies, which frame the strike uniformly as a Russian attack on civilian infrastructure. Reporting centers local officials — Odesa City MVA head Serhiy Lysak and Odesa Oblast MVA head Oleh Kiper — as the authoritative voices on damage and casualties. Several outlets explicitly characterize the attack as a war crime by Russia and note the Odesa Oblast Prosecutor's Office investigation. Coverage emphasizes social-infrastructure damage (hospital, gymnasium, residential buildings) and the humanitarian response: operational headquarters, utility crews clearing debris and boarding up windows, and the "yeVidnovlennya" and "Nezlamna Odesa" assistance programs offered to affected residents.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on whether the overnight attack caused casualties: Odesa City MVA head Serhiy Lysak initially said there were no casualties in Odesa, while Odesa OVA head Oleh Kiper and the State Emergency Service later reported two people injured in Odesa Oblast, and the SES separately counted three injured — a child and two adults — in a later daytime strike on the residential sector. Reports also vary on the scope of residential damage in the city: the City MVA initially said windows were blown out in 10 adjacent residential buildings and a school, the State Emergency Service counted 4 residential buildings and an educational institution, and other accounts reported 17 private houses damaged in Odesa's Kyiv district.
Background
Odesa has been hit repeatedly by Russian strikes throughout the war. A separate nighttime strike on 23 September in Odesa Oblast damaged a cargo vessel under the flag of Antigua and Barbuda, killing its Ukrainian captain. Earlier in September, on the night of 21 September, Russia struck a Silpo distribution centre in Odesa. In the 24 September attack Russian forces used small-sized cruise missiles dubbed "Banderol," and the Ukrainian Air Force had warned of these missiles and drones in the Black Sea before the strike.