Russian strikes injure eight in Odesa region, hit school and animal shelter

Russian drone and missile attacks injured eight people across Ukraine's Odesa region overnight into Tuesday, Ukraine's State Emergency Service said. The strikes damaged homes, a school, a dormitory and an animal shelter, as well as a manufacturing plant, warehouses, and passenger cars and trucks, the service said.

Emergency crews extinguished fires at multiple sites, though the rescue operation was interrupted repeatedly by air raid alerts, the State Emergency Service said. Sirens sounded three times in the region between 1:03am and 6:15am over the threat of drone attacks, and once more over a separate missile threat.

Ukraine's air force said jet-powered drones were detected heading toward Mayaky, Biliaivka, Odesa and Chornomorsk during the night. It also reported the launch of guided aerial bombs toward the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district.

Separately, strikes on infrastructure inside Odesa city overnight and into Tuesday morning destroyed three trucks and damaged eight more, along with nearby buildings, the Odesa City Military Administration said. The resulting fire was extinguished, and the administration said no casualties resulted from that attack.

A shelter for dogs and cats also burned down in the region during the attacks, according to Ukrinform and the Slovenian outlet Siol.net. Ukrinform separately reported that apartments in the region suffered fire damage.

Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said a business in the region suffered serious damage in the attack and that six people were hurt there, according to a Telegram post relayed by the Greek outlet AlphaNews.Live. It was not clear whether those six were among the eight injured reported by the State Emergency Service.

Emergency crews were also continuing recovery work at a high-rise residential building in Odesa that was hit the day before, on 28 September, when a jet-powered Shahed drone destroyed a 12th-floor apartment and damaged the facade, balconies and windows across several floors. Blast waves from that strike blew out window frames in neighbouring apartment blocks and an educational facility, and municipal crews have been boarding up the damaged openings, according to NV.ua.

Russia's defence ministry said separately that its forces had struck two data centres in Kyiv overnight, along with a cargo ship linked to Ukraine's armed forces in the Black Sea and another ship carrying military cargo in Odesa.