Russian missile attack: casualties and wounded in Odesa, air defence in Kyiv
On the night of Thursday, May 18, the Russian Federation once again launched a massive missile attack on Ukraine. The enemy targeted Odesa and Kyiv. The enemy also struck the Khmelnytskyi region.
Serhiy Bratchuk, head of the Public Council at the Odesa Regional Military Administration, said that during the night attack on the Odesa region, most of the enemy missiles were shot down over the sea by air defence forces.
"Unfortunately, an industrial facility was hit: 1 person was killed and two were wounded," he added. In the morning, Bratchuk explained that the wounded were security guards at the industrial facility.
During the telethon, Nataliya Gumenyuk, spokesperson for the Operational Command "South", commented on the enemy's attack on Odesa. According to her, "as usual, the enemy is trying to terrorise the rear regions and reminds Odesa that it is in its priorities".
She believes that with such massive and frequent missile attacks, Russia is trying to exhaust the reinforced air defence system.
After the massive shelling of Odesa, the enemy switched to the capital. The Kyiv City Military Administration reported that last night there was "a series of unprecedented in its power, intensity and variety of air attacks on Kyiv".
"The ninth air attack on the capital since the beginning of May. This time, the attack was carried out from Tu-95MS and Tu-160 strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea, probably with X-101/555 cruise missiles. After launching the missiles, the enemy used its reconnaissance UAVs over the capital," the statement said.
According to preliminary information, all enemy targets over the Kyiv sky were destroyed.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on his Telegram channel that debris had fallen in the Desnianskyi and Darnytskyi districts of the capital.
"Fire in a garage co-operative as a result of falling debris in the Darnytskyi district. Debris fell in several other places in the same area. Preliminarily, there was also an explosion in the Desnianskyi district... There are no injuries at the sites of the falling debris in the Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts. There have been no appeals to the medical service so far," Klitschko added.
The head of the Main Department of the National Police in the Kyiv region, Andriy Nebytov, showed the remains of Russian missiles that were "landed" by air defence. According to him, "at the moment, no significant damage has been recorded, and there are no injured people".
The Khmelnytskyi Regional State Administration reported that on the morning of May 18, a series of explosions occurred in the region during an air raid alert. "Air defence forces were working. In addition, unfortunately, there was a hit to an infrastructure facility in the Khmelnytskyi district. There were no casualties. Information about the damage is being established," the statement said.
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that from the evening of May 17 to 6 am on May 18, Russian terrorists attacked Ukraine with missiles from different directions: "A total of 30 sea-, air- and land-launched cruise missiles were launched. From strategic aviation aircrafts: two Tu-160 and eight Tu-95, 22 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles were launched. From ships in the Black Sea - six Kalibr cruise missiles and two Iskander-K cruise missiles from ground-based tactical missile systems."
The defence forces destroyed 29 cruise missiles, two Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs and two tactical reconnaissance UAVs.
Recall that on the night of May 16, the occupiers launched a massive missile attack on Kyiv. During the attack, air defence forces shot down 6 Kinzhal, 9 Kalibr and 6 Shahed: the wreckage fell on the zoo and damaged cars.
On the night of May 17, the Russians also used a large number of missiles to attack the capital. In particular, the enemy fired 6 Kinzhal and 9 Kalibr missiles.
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