The visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis to Odesa on March 6 was not an occasion Russian missile attack on the cityOn the same day, the spokeswoman of the Southern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Nataliya Humenyuk informed Radio Free Europe about this, UNN reports. Independent Kyiv.

Russia fired a missile at Odessa when the President of Ukraine and his staff were giving Mitsotakis a tour of the Odessa port.

“(The attack) has nothing to do with a specific visit, but is connected with the terror that (Russia) is carrying out very methodically,” Humenyuk said.

Navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk told Hromadskyi that five people were killed in the attack.

In addition, the US executive branch said on Wednesday that it was too early to say whether the attack in Odesa was aimed at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Pletenchuk also said that “several people” were injured, but information about them is still being collected, since “they are in different conditions.”

According to Humenyuk, Russian troops probably used a ballistic missile to strike Odesa.

One of the port’s infrastructure buildings was damaged, the spokesman added.

Zelenskyi and Mitsotakis 150 meters from the place of the explosion

The explosion occurred approximately 150 meters from the Greek delegation and President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the Greek publication Kathimerini and the SKAI TV channel report.

After the meeting, Zelensky noted that the main topic of the conversation with Mitsotakis was the defense of Ukraine, emphasizing Ukraine’s need for air defense systems.

“Guns are needed here to save lives. Solutions are needed now – not once, but for the people who endure terrorist attacks day and night,” Zelenskyy said.

Mitsotakis noted that at the end of his visit to the Ukrainian port, he “heard the sound of an air raid siren and explosions very close” to him and Zelensky.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who came straight from Odesa straight to Bucharest, apologized to President Klaus Iohannis “for his outfit” because he “didn’t have time to change.”

“I’m glad you’re all right, Kyriakos. I’m sorry you had to experience such fear in Odessa,” Iohannis replied, after which the Greek prime minister added: “Yes, it was… weird.”

Before the morning missile attack on Odessa, Ukrainian troops shot down 18 Russian drones during the night of March 6. Russia targeted drones at settlements and industrial facilities near the sea in the Odesa region.

Moscow claims to have successfully hit a hangar with Ukrainian naval drones

“The goal has been achieved. The goal has been achieved,” the ministry said in a statement, which Reuters could not independently verify.

Ukraine has widely used naval drones to strike Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Since July last year, Russia has launched more than 880 drones and more than 170 missiles at the port infrastructure of the Black Sea in the Odesa region, the commander of the Ukrainian Navy said on Wednesday.

Russia has stepped up attacks on port infrastructure since mid-July, when it violated a UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments to pass safely through the Black Sea.