Russian missile lands near Ukraine’s Zelensky and Greek prime minister during Odesa visit
- The strike occurred near Zelensky’s motorcade, killing five people, though the leaders and officials were unharmed
- The Ukrainian president seized on the attack to reiterate his call to allies for more air defence and long-range weapons
A deadly Russian missile strike hit Odesa close to the location that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis were visiting in the southern Ukrainian port city on Wednesday.
“These people don’t care, they have either gone insane or they don’t control what their terroristic army is doing,” Zelensky said about the Russian military during a joint press conference with Mitsotakis in Odesa.
The single-missile strike, which occurred in the morning, killed five people, Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing military spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk.
The attack happened as the two leaders were touring the port of Odesa and surveying the damage to its infrastructure, Mitsotakis said, speaking alongside the Ukrainian president. “And shortly after, as we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion,” Mitsotakis said.
The missile landed near Zelensky’s motorcade, which was some 150 metres away from the Greek delegation, without harming officials, Greek website Protothema reported earlier on Wednesday, citing its correspondent, who was present at the site.