Russian drone strike injures 4 at Odesa region supermarket

A Russian Shahed drone struck a grocery supermarket in Ukraine's Odesa region, injuring 4 people and partly destroying the building, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and regional officials said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

The supermarket, named locally as a Tavria V store, was largely destroyed and nearby cars were damaged, Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram, according to 24 Chasa. A fire broke out after the strike, and rescuers, medics, police and municipal services were working at the scene, Kiper said.

Three people were initially reported injured; rescuers later said the number had risen to 4, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Zelensky said the attack was a deliberate response by Russia to "dangerous signals" from the United States about the possible further easing of sanctions on Moscow. "These sanctions were imposed by the world, by America, Europe, our partners, over Russia's aggression against Ukraine and its war against us. Nothing has changed. The war has not stopped," he said, according to Dnevnik Slovenia.

Zelensky said residential buildings, shops, energy sites and other infrastructure across Ukraine were coming under attack almost without a break, and argued that further sanctions relief for Russia would not help end a war that had by his count continued for 1,695 days. He said strength, not more money for Moscow, was what was needed to stop the fighting, Dnevnik Slovenia reported.

Kiper urged residents of the region not to ignore air-raid sirens, saying Russian attacks on the region had continued in recent weeks, 24 Chasa reported.

Odesa region has a large Bulgarian minority, numbering more than 150,000 people and the third-largest ethnic group in the region according to Ukraine's last official census, 24 Chasa reported. Around 50,000 to 60,000 ethnic Bulgarians live in the city of Odesa itself, with the largest concentrations in the Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts, the outlet said.