Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters
Zelensky said the missile struck close to where he had been meeting with Mitsotakis, third from right.
CNN
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A Russian missile exploded just 500 meters from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during a deadly attack on the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Wednesday, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
A convoy carrying the leaders on a visit to the city felt the impact of the strike and the group saw a “mushroom cloud” of smoke, according to the source.
Five people were killed in the strike and more were wounded, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, told CNN, though neither Zelensky or Mitsotakis were injured.
Zelensky frequently makes high-risk trips to the front lines and has welcomed dozens of world leaders to Ukraine over more than two years of war with Russia, but Wednesday’s attack may represent one of the closest calls for the president. The strike’s proximity to Mitsotakis – the leader of a NATO member state – also underlines the dangers of such visits and potential global repercussions of the conflict.
Zelensky said he was close enough to see and hear the strike.
“We saw this strike today. You can see who we are dealing with, they don’t care where they strike. I know that there were victims today, I don’t know all the details yet, but I know that there are dead and wounded,” Zelensky said from Odesa on Wednesday.
“We need to defend ourselves first and foremost. The best way to do that is with an air defense system,” he added.
Mitsotakis said Zelensky had given him a tour of the southern city, which has sustained huge damage from months of Russian strikes, before they heard air raid sirens.
“Shortly after, as we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion,” Mitsotakis told reporters later Wednesday. “I think that for us is the best, most vivid reminder that there is a real war going on here. Every day there is a war, which not only affects the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent fellow citizens.”
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Odesa lies at the mouth of the Danube River and is crucial for Ukraine’s grain exports, which Russia has repeatedly tried to stem since launching its invasion. It is also the main base of Ukraine’s navy.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said its military had conducted the strike at 11.40 a.m. Moscow time (3.40 a.m. ET).
“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched a high-precision missile attack on a hangar in the industrial port district of Odesa, where preparations were underway for the combat use of unmanned boats of the armed forces of Ukraine. The target of the strike has been achieved. The object is hit,” it said in a statement, without mentioning Zelensky or Mitsotakis.
Russia has stepped up its strikes on the region in recent days, and on Saturday a Russian drone attack on an apartment block in the city killed 12 people, including five children, Ukrainian officials said.
Zelensky said the attack pressed…
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