(Reuters) – Ukraine’s air force downed two Russian missiles in the southern port city of Odesa on Friday afternoon, officials said, but debris hit civilian infrastructure, injuring five people.
A 15-year-old boy who was outside at the moment of the strike was among the injured, Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov added on Telegram.
“The enemy insidiously directs missile strikes on industrial and residential areas of Odesa,” the southern military command said on the Telegram messaging app.
Moscow denies deliberately attacking civilians in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that it launched in February 2022, although many have been killed in frequent Russian airstrikes across the country.
Russia carried out a major airstrike on Ukraine’s energy system on March 22, part of what Moscow said was “revenge” for Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions. Russian forces continued targeting energy facilities this week as well.
Moscow has increased its use of ballistic missiles, which are much faster than regular cruise missiles and harder to shoot down, to attack Ukrainian cities over the past few days.
A little over two years after starting its invasion, Russian forces have been slowly advancing of late and currently control about one fifth of its neighbour in eastern and southern regions.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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