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Odesa strike ‘in retaliation for Black Sea HQ attack’, Ukraine says

Ukraine has claimed this morning’s strike on Odesa is in retaliation for its own missile attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet headquarters in Sevastopol at the end of last week.

Friday’s attack on the Russian base, carried out with Storm Shadow missiles, left “dozens dead”, according to Kyiv, with Russia only noting one soldier as missing. 

Ukraine’s defence ministry has shared a photo from the scene in Odesa, which appears to have decimated a hotel in the city, after a missile struck it in the early hours of this morning.

“A pathetic attempt at retaliation for our successful hit on the Russian Navy HQ in Sevastopol,” it said on X (formerly Twitter). 

Russia has not addressed the claims, which are unverified. 

Drone downed over Russian territory

Another drone has been downed over Russian territory this morning, after several were recorded earlier. 

In our 6.16am post, we told you four drones were downed over Kursk and Bryansk, with a further four shot down over Crimea. 

Now another drone has been shot down over Belgorod, according to the Russian ministry of defence. 

The drone was destroyed by air defences at 9am Moscow time (7am UK time).

No further details were shared by the ministry, and the governor of the region has not outlined if anything was damaged or anyone hurt.

We’ll bring you more as we get it.

Fire rages in Odesa hotel after Russian strike

We can now bring you footage from Odesa – where a Russian strike hit a hotel. 

The blast injured one woman, who officials said was hit by shrapnel, and firefighters have been tackling the resulting blaze. 

Earlier, we brought you a suggestion from Ukraine’s ministry of defence that the attack was a retaliation for Kyiv’s strike on Russia’s Black Sea fleet HQ in Crimea (see 8.01am post).

Hotel before and after Russian attack on Odesa

Before and after pictures of a hotel in Odesa reveal the impact of a Russian attack overnight.

At least one person has been injured in the strikes, while there has been significant damage to port infrastructure.