site.btaUPDATED Odesa Shaken by Explosions as City Attacked by Drones, Local Channels Report

Loud explosions were heard in the central part of the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa, which was under attack by drones on Monday evening, local channels reported on Telegram.

The alert was declared at 6:15 p.m. (Bulgarian time). Authorities urged local residents to hide in bomb shelters.

More drones were reported flying toward Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne from the Black Sea, according to local Telegram channels.

It was later reported that several areas of Odesa were without power after the massive drone attack. There were also disruptions to city electric transport on some routes. 

Bulgarians in the Odesa region number more than 150,000 and were the third largest population group in Ukraine in 2001, according to the official census. About 50,000 - 60,000 Bulgarians live in the city of Odesa itself. The largest compact Bulgarian population is concentrated in the Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi districts.