Putin rains hell on Ukraine's Odessa on Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur

Putin rains down hell on Ukraine’s Odessa in terrifying overnight blitz on Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur – as Russian warmonger’s lawless invasion grinds into its 20th month

• Russia has launched a powerful missile attack on Ukraine’s port city of Odessa 

Vladimir Putin has rained down hell on Ukraine’s port city of Odessa with a powerful missile strike – just as the city’s large Jewish population marks the holy day of Yom Kippur.

Russian invaders are believed to have struck the Hotel Odessa – a military target used as a training centre – with local reports that the building is caught up in flames. 

Other reports describe a ‘continuous attack’ on the Black Sea port lasting for over an hour, as Russia fired an arsenal of shahed missiles.

Oleg Veretskiy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, listing the invaders’ weaponry as ‘Onyx, Calibers and Shaheds’.

He added: ‘I don’t remember such a dense attack on Odessa for a long time. It was loud. Right next to us. We survived. The air raid alert has been cancelled.’

Russian invaders are believed to have struck the Hotel Odessa – a military target used as a training centre – with local reports that the building is caught up in flames

Oleg Veretskiy posted on X, formerly known as Twitter , listing the invaders’ weaponry as ‘Onyx, Calibers and Shaheds’

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Many of Odessa’s population of over 12,000 Jews were marking the end of their fasting period on the holy day of Yom Kippur when the missiles struck.

Since its founding in 1795, Odessa has been home to a large population of Jews – outnumbering any other ethnic group until the mid-20th century.

Explosions have also been reported in Sevastopol in the Crimea, temporarily occupied by Russia.

The attacks come as President Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine grinded into its 20th month with no tangible sign of victory.

Yesterday, Russian air strikes killed two people and wounded three others in Ukraine’s Kherson province – just days after two were killed and eight others injured in a strike on Sunday.

Russian forces have repeatedly struck the city of Beryslav, destroying an unspecified number of private houses. 

A woman was killed in the latest strike and three people were wounded, including a police officer, according to the region’s governor Oleksandr Prokudin.

Another air strike also killed a 67-year-old man in the village of Lvove, Mr Prokudin said without specifying the type of weapons used in the attack.

The communities hit are both located in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Kherson region, where the Dnieper River has marked a battle line since November 2022, when Russian forces retreated across it, boosting the invaded country’s morale.

Russian air strikes have killed two people and wounded three others in Ukraine ‘s Kherson province. Pictured is a destroyed building in Beryslav

Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said Russian forces struck the city of Beryslav, destroying an unspecified number of private houses. A woman was killed and three people were wounded, including a police officer, he said.

Another airstrike killed a 67-year-old man in the village of Lvove, Prokudin said without specifying the type of weapons used in the attack.

In the city of Kherson, the region’s capital, a total of five people were wounded Sunday as the result of repeated Russian bombing, the governor said.

The communities hit are both located in the Ukraine-controlled part of the Kherson region, where the Dnieper River that bisects the province has marked a battle line since Russian troops withdrew across it in November 2022, a retreat that boosted the invaded country’s morale.

The Russians regrouped on the river’s eastern bank and regularly shell cities and villages across the river, including the city of Kherson that was occupied early on in the war but retaken by Ukrainian forces more than 10 months ago.

In another front-line Ukrainian region, Donetsk, the Russian-installed authorities on Sunday imposed a number of restrictions on the occupied areas: a curfew from 11 p.m. till 4 a.m. on weekdays, a ban on any rallies or protests, and military censorship of any correspondence, online messages and phone conversations. It wasn’t immediately clear how such a censorship would operate.

In Russia, a Ukrainian drone hit an administrative building in the city of Kursk and “insignificantly damaged” the roof, regional Gov. Roman Starovoit reported. He didn’t report any casualties or say what the building housed.

Unconfirmed media reports both in Russia and Ukraine said it was the offices of the Kursk branch of Russia’s main security agency, the Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB.

A woman has been killed in the strike while three people were wounded, including a police officer. Pictured is the aftermath in Beryslav

Kherson’s governor told of how Russian forces struck the city of Beryslav earlier today, destroying an unspecified number of private houses

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The Russians regrouped on the river’s eastern bank and regularly shell cities and villages across the river, including the city of Kherson, the regional capital that was occupied early on in the war but retaken by Ukrainian forces more than 10 months ago.

Meanwhile in Russia, a Ukrainian drone hit an administrative building in the city of Kursk and ‘insignificantly damaged’ the roof, regional governor Roman Starovoit reported. He did not report any casualties or say what the building housed.

Unconfirmed media reports both in Russia and Ukraine said it was the offices of the Kursk branch of Russia’s main security agency, the Federal Security Service, also known as the FSB.

The Kursk region of Russia borders Ukraine and is also a frequent target of attacks. The drone strike today took place as residents commemorated the anniversary of the regional capital’s founding.

There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian authorities, who usually do not acknowledge responsibility for attacks on Russian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was travelling home from North America, where he addressed the UN General Assembly and paid his first war-time visit to Canada. 

In a social media statement on Saturday, Mr Zelensky said he stopped in Poland on his way back to Ukraine to give state awards to two Polish volunteers.

Mr Zelensky apparently did not meet with any Polish officials, but in a post on X, formerly Twitter, he thanked Poland for ‘its invaluable support and solidarity that helps defend freedom of our entire Europe’.

Poland has taken in large numbers of Ukrainian refugees and been a fierce supporter of neighbouring Ukraine since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into the country on February 24, 2022. 

However, a trade dispute has recently tested the relationship between Kyiv and Warsaw.

The Ukrainian government this month filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia for banning imports of Ukrainian farm products, which are important for the war-weary country’s battered economy.

The three European Union member nations bristled at the move. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki responded by saying his country was ‘no longer transferring any weapons to Ukraine because we are now arming ourselves with the most modern weapons’.

His remarks left many wondering if the Western resolve to support Ukraine in the war with Russia is waning.

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