KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched three waves of drones and missiles against the southern Ukraine port city of Odesa, officials said Monday, though the Ukrainian air force said it intercepted all the airborne weapons fired during the nighttime attacks.
Falling debris from the 15 Shahed drones and eight Kalibr missiles interceptions damaged a residential building, a supermarket and a dormitory of an educational facility in the city, Odesa Gov. Oleh Kiper said.
Two employees of the supermarket were hospitalized, Kiper said. Video showed a huge blaze at the store during the night and, the next day, the large building’s charred and mangled wreckage.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Defense Ministry said it scrambled two F-16 fighter jets early Monday when two Russian bombers were tracked flying toward the airspace of the Netherlands.
“This doesn’t happen often, but today’s incident demonstrates the importance of rapid deployment,” the ministry said. “The F-16s are on standby 24 hours a day and can take off within minutes and intercept an unidentified aircraft.”
Danish F-16s identified the Russian planes flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea, but the bombers did not enter Denmark’s airspace, the Danish air force said.
British and German fighter jets were scrambled in mid-March to intercept a Russian aircraft flying close to Estonian airspace, officials said at the time. The day before, the U.S. had said a Russian fighter jet struck a U.S. surveillance drone over the Black Sea.
Russia insisted its warplanes didn’t hit the MQ-9 Reaper drone, arguing the drone hadmaneuvered sharply and crashed into the water. The back-to-back incidents raised concerns about aerial standoffs near Russia and Ukraine
The Kremlin’s forces have pummeled Odesa since Russia last month broke off a wartime deal to protect Ukraine’s crucial grain exports. The Russian attacks appear aimed at facilities that transport grain and also at wrecking cherished Ukrainian historical sites.
The landmark agreement negotiated by the U.N. and Turkey had allowed grain to resume flowing from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia and to help reduce the threat of hunger.
Russia has since declared wide areas of the Black Sea unsafe for shipping. On Sunday, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship in the southwestern Black Sea.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said the ship was heading north to the Ukrainian Danube River port of Izmail. Russian forces fired shots from automatic small arms to force the ship to stop, the ministry said on Telegram.
Ukraine’s presidential office reported Monday that at least eight civilians were killed and 23 others were wounded in Ukraine between Sunday and Monday mornings.
In other developments Monday:
— Russia’s Defense Ministry said the country’s air defense systems shot down an unspecified number of Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region without causing damage or casualties. The region, which borders Ukraine, is a regular target of Ukrainian cross-border shelling and drone strikes. Neither Russia nor Ukraine’s latest battlefield claims could be independently verified.
— The Norwegian government said Norway-based Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace will provide a newly developed anti-drone system to Ukraine in a deal worth 740 million kroner ($71 million). Russia has made frequent use of drones, especially Iranian-made Shahed drones, to pound Ukrainian territory.
