In the morning, a series of powerful explosions were heard in Odessa in southern Ukraine. The mayor’s office reports on its website that a series of Russian rockets fell on Odessa. Fires broke out in several places. The representative of the local administration Sergei Brachuk said that the missiles hit one of the critical infrastructure of the city. Eyewitnesses report that smoke is hanging over the industrial zone. Ukrainian air defense shot down part of the missiles.
After four local time, an anti-aircraft alarm was announced and everyone who could get into the shelters was called. Two hours later, the alarm went off. “On Sunday morning (04.03) in Odessa, a port city in southern Ukraine, a series of powerful explosions rocked,” Reuters reports, citing local eyewitnesses. While official, more detailed information about this is not available.
Donbas as a target for Russian troops
Earlier, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said that the goal of Russian troops is to take control of the Donbass and the southern part of the country. In his daily speech, the president stressed that Ukrainians must fight and work for peace on their own.
Zelensky also noted that Ukrainian forces have regained control over many occupied cities in the Kiev and Kharkiv regions. The Russians launched an offensive against the Ukrainian capital on the first day of the aggression, February 24th. Since then, fighting has been going on in the Kiev region. The rebuilt cities are mostly destroyed, some of them mined.
The mayor of Bucha near Kiev, Anatoly Fedoruk, said that almost 300 people had to be buried in mass graves there. The city was liberated by the Ukrainian army on Thursday (March 31). According to Anatoly Fedoruk, Bucha was badly damaged, bodies are found on the streets. Mer added that all those buried were shot. This is what the Kyiv region looks like:
⚡️Голова Київської ОВА Олексій Кулеба показав, як виглядає визволена від російських терористів Буча. pic.twitter.com/RPPvBJ4NyR
— Верховна Рада України (@verkhovna_rada) April 3, 2022