A three-year-old old boy was among the four people killed in an overnight Russian drone attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa, officials said, the latest civilian victims of a relentless Russian bombing campaign.
The boy, who officials said was named Timofii, was discovered under rubble on a ground floor after the strike, Odesa City Municipality said on Telegram.
The State Emergency Service of Ukraine reported that four people were killed and eight people injured in the attack. A further five people were rescued, it said.
The attack left the front facade of an apartment block in ruins.
“One of the enemy drones hit a residential building in Odesa. 18 apartments have been destroyed,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday.
He called for more air defense systems as he stressed the need to further strengthen the country’s air defense capacities.
“More air defense systems, more missiles for air defense is what saves lives,” he said.
Ukraine has been asking its western allies for more military aid as Russia’s war against Ukraine enters its third year.
Last week, Zelensky warned CNN that “millions” could die if US lawmakers don’t approve President Joe Biden’s $60 billion aid request for Kyiv, hours after announcing some 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed so far in the conflict.
Republican leadership in the House has so far been refusing to hold a vote on providing more funding.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon is weighing whether to tap into the last remaining source of funding it has for military aid to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia even without guarantees that those funds will be replenished by Congress, multiple defense officials told CNN.
