Russia uses record number of Shahed drones in attacks on Odesa – Pletenchuk
Russia is using a record number of drones and missiles during strikes on Odesa, carrying out combined attacks from several directions, including from Crimea.
As reported by Censor.NET, this was stated on television by the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Naval Forces, Dmytro Pletenchuk.
He noted that the latest attack on Odesa does not differ from previous ones.
"In fact, they cannot come up with anything new, but this time they used both drones and missiles. It is typical for attacks on the Odesa region – launches from the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea. Two missiles were launched from there directly at the city and, unfortunately, the response time is very short – the flight time is between one and a half to two minutes. In addition, these are Shaheds that were used for attacks from the sea; right now they are also attacking Odesa, you can hear the attacks taking place. Today we probably have a record – a total of 87 Shaheds were shot down by units of the Naval Forces; from the night attack into the morning of the 10th, they were downed by us, but overall they are operating quite intensively across the south today," the spokesperson said.
Responding to a question about how long such attacks have lasted recently, Pletenchuk said they can occur in several waves.
"Traditionally, they take place at night. There may be several waves: they accumulate a certain number of drones in the air, after which they begin to directly attack the city or infrastructure. Sometimes they even do this during the day in order to exhaust our defenders as much as possible so that they have no rest at all, but mostly this happens during the dark hours and can last for hours," he said.
Strikes on Odesa on 16 April
The Russian army launched a massive attack on the Odesa region on the night of 16 April, firing missiles and UAVs in several waves. As a result of the strike, 9 people were killed, and 26 were injured. Residential buildings and infrastructure were damaged.
On the morning of 16 April, Russian drones struck civilian and port infrastructure in the Odesa region. In Odesa, the territory of one of the city’s markets was attacked – three people were injured, including a child.
The roof and glazing of a car dealership were also damaged, along with eight passenger cars inside. At another location, a private house and a vehicle were hit.
A UAV strike on a civilian cargo vessel flying the flag of Nauru was recorded, followed by a fire in one of the containers.
