A Russian missile that killed five people in the Black Sea port city of Odesa on Wednesday landed just 500 meters from a convoy carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a source said.
The source said the two leaders’ convoy felt the impact of the strike and the group saw a “mushroom cloud” of smoke.
Five people were killed in the strike and more were wounded, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Navy, Dmytro Pletenchuk, told CNN.
Neither of the two leaders were injured, but Zelensky said he was close enough to have seen and heard the strike.
“We saw this strike today. You can see who we are dealing with, they don’t care where they strike. I know that there were victims today, I don’t know all the details yet, but I know that there are dead and wounded,” Zelensky said from Odesa on Wednesday.
Mitsotakis said Zelensky had given him a tour of the city, which has sustained huge damage from months of Russian strikes, before they heard air raid sirens.
“Shortly after, as we were getting into our cars, we heard a big explosion,” Mitsotakis told reporters later Wednesday. “I think that for us is the best, most vivid reminder that there is a real war going on here. Every day there is a war, which not only affects the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent fellow citizens.”
Zelensky frequently makes high-risk trips to the front lines and has welcomed dozens of world leaders to Ukraine over more than two years of war with Russia, but Wednesday’s attack may represent one of the closest calls for the president.
@L3gislat1veIkeLibertarian3mos3MO
Who said it was a Russian missile?
@UrchinDennyGreen3mos3MO
I think he is going to get wacked by his own people. Zman fired his entire cabinet in February and replaced it with loyalists.
@L3gislat1veIkeLibertarian3mos3MO
It's imho a setup (he's not a target) but I can't see what he's doing it for. It's over, Nuland even resigned, it will be over, I don't know if the Russians are moving forward before or not (I think they will likely get to Odessa, they promised it).
@L3gislat1vePigletGreen3mos3MO
@ISIDEWITH3mos3MO
How might the world be different today if the assassination attempt on Zelensky had been successful?
@9KMDHRKRepublican3mos3MO
Russia probably would have overtaken Ukraine and the conflict would have ended
@9KMDFD53mos3MO
Ukraine would have most likely gone into a crisis and quickly lose to Russia in the war.
@ISIDEWITH3mos3MO
If you were in Zelensky's position, would you continue to make high-risk trips and why?
@9KMF3733mos3MO
Yes, I believe some things are more important than absolute safety.
@JubilantL0bby1stDemocrat3mos3MO
I think Putin was sending a message to Greek PM Mitsotakis who dissed Putin a while back and has taken a strong anti Russia stance.
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