Russian forces launched a large-scale drone attack on Odessa overnight on March 28, killing two people, injuring at least 11 others—including a child—and causing widespread damage to civilian and critical infrastructure, Ukrainian officials reported.
According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, more than 60 strike drones were used in the attack.
“There is no military sense in this—this is pure terror against ordinary civilian life,” the president said, noting that residential buildings, businesses, port facilities, and critical infrastructure were among the targets.
Regional authorities initially reported one fatality and multiple injuries, including a child. Later, the Office of the Prosecutor General уточнив that two people—a man and a woman—were killed, and 11 others were wounded, including a nine-year-old boy in moderate condition.
The head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, Oleh Kiper, said the strikes hit civilian and critical infrastructure across the city. A maternity hospital sustained damage after a drone struck the roof of a four-story building. At the time of the attack, 80 people were inside the facility, including 33 medical staff, all of whom had taken shelter. No fire broke out.
Damage was also recorded in private homes, apartment buildings, and critical infrastructure sites. A television center was hit, and multiple residential areas suffered partial destruction.
According to Oleksiy Kuleba, strikes in the region also damaged port infrastructure. In one of the ports, a grain gallery was hit by a drone.
The Prosecutor’s Office reported that the attack damaged a wide range of civilian objects, including a maternity hospital, three educational institutions (two of them kindergartens), two five-story residential buildings, one ten-story building, 12 private homes, and at least 10 vehicles.
Emergency services, rescue teams, and local authorities are working at the sites of the strikes, while operational штаби have been deployed to assist residents. Law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation into a war crime under Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code.
Officials said the attack continued for several hours, from shortly after midnight until morning, and described it as another deliberate strike on civilian infrastructure.
