8 killed in Odessa shelling, says Zelensky

Kiev, April 24: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said eight people, including a three-month old baby, were killed during Russian shelling in the port city of Odessa. The missiles were fired on Saturday afternoon by Tu-95 strategic aircraft flying over the waters of the Caspian Sea, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

According to preliminary reports, two aerial targets were shot down by Ukrainian air defence, while another two missiles hit a military facility and two residential buildings. Addressing a press conference on Saturday night, the President said that Russia fired a total of seven missiles into Odessa, of which two were shot down.

According to Zelensky, there were at least 20 injured people. Condemning the incident, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia should be recognised as a state sponsor of terrorism.

"The sole purpose of the Russian missile strikes on Odessa is terror. Russia should be recognised as a state sponsor of terrorism and treated accordingly. No business, no contacts, no cultural projects. We need a wall between civilisation and barbarians who shell peaceful cities", he said in a tweet.

In a statement on Saturday evening, The Russian Ministry of Defence reported that their missiles hit only a military depot "where a large batch of foreign weapons received from the US and European countries were stored".