site.btaOdesa under Ballistic Missile Attack

Explosions echoed across Odessa on Monday as the Ukrainian city came under attack from ballistic missiles launched from the Black Sea, Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov said on Telegram.

An air raid alert was issued at 3:29 p.m.

Local authorities urged residents to seek refuge in bomb shelters until the alert was lifted. 

Odesa Region is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people, according to an official population census in Ukraine in 2001. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians live in the regional capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the region are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.