Russia has struck Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa with missiles and drones, wounding at least eight people and causing extensive damage to a renowned art museum and residential buildings in the city’s historic center, while drone debris set grain warehouses on fire, Ukrainian officials said on November 6.
Regional Governor Oleh Kiper updated the number of wounded people to eight after initially saying five residents had been injured in the attack.
Kiper wrote on Telegram that missiles targeted the city center and a disused industrial building.
High-rise apartment buildings and the Odesa National Art Museum in the city’s UNESCO world heritage area were damaged, Kiper said.
Natalya Humenyuk, a spokesperson for the southern military command, said Russia attacked the southern regions with various types of missiles and attack drones early on November 6.
Humenyuk said the city of Odesa was attacked with Iskander-M and Onyx missiles as well as Iranian-made Shahed drones. Both Humenyuk and Kiper said 15 drones were shot down by the air defense forces. Debris from the drones damaged grain warehouses in the port area, Kiper said.
The Odesa National Art Museum, located in the city’s UNESCO world heritage area close to the port, was also damaged by a Russian missile on the day it was celebrating 124 years of existence.
“On November 6, the Odesa National Art Museum turned 124 years old. The Russians “congratulated” our architectural monument with a missile that hit nearby. The walls of the building are damaged, some windows and glass are broken,” Kiper wrote on Telegram.
Separately, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that 20 apartment buildings were damaged in Odesa.
On the battlefield, Ukrainian forces fought 53 close-quarter battles over the past 24 hours along the front line, the General Staff of Ukraine’s military said in its daily report early on November 6.
Fierce fighting was under way around the industrial city of Avdiyivka, in the eastern region of Donetsk, which Russian troops have been attempting to capture for the past several weeks in one of the most intense battles of the war.
Ukrainian troops repelled 10 assaults in the Avdiyivka area, the military said, despite the Russians using air support.
Fighting also picked up in the southern region of Zaporizhzhya, where Russian forces have been attempting to recapture Robotyne, a village liberated by Ukrainian troops in August.