A Russian ballistic missile struck “very close” to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Kyriakos Mitsotakis while the pair were visiting the port of Odesa on Wednesday, according to the Greek prime minister.
Five people were killed by the missile, Ukraine’s navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk said.
Russia said the missile hit a hangar housing sea drones that have been used to attack Russian ships in the Black Sea.
“We saw the explosion today,” Mr Zelenskiy said. “You see who we are dealing with, they don’t care where to hit. I know that there were victims today. It doesn’t matter if it’s soldiers, civilians or international [guests], they don’t care.”
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The attack happened shortly after the two leaders and their teams were at Odesa’s harbour, where Mr Zelenskiy was explaining the Black Sea port’s importance to Ukrainian exports and pointing out the damage to infrastructure from Russia’s previous attacks as the full-scale war entered its third year.
Sirens went off during the visit. “A little later, as we entered into our cars, we heard a large explosion,” said Mr Mitsotakis. The incident was the “liveliest reminder that in Ukraine there is a real war going on”, he added.
The explosion took place about 300m from the motorcade, according to a Greek official.
“That’s another reason that all European leaders should visit Ukraine,” Mr Mitsotakis said. “It’s one thing to see or hear the description from the media or from president Zelenskiy, with whom we communicate regularly, and it’s completely different to experience the war first hand.”
In a post on social media site X, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the attack on Odesa during the two leaders’ visit was “another sign of Russia’s cowardly tactics in its war of aggression against Ukraine. This is reprehensible and below even the Kremlin’s playbook. The EU’s full support to Ukraine and its brave people will not waver.”
Missiles had also struck Odesa when Mr Michel visited the city in May 2022, forcing him to seek shelter.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen also condemned Moscow’s “new attempt at terror”, and said the EU stood by Ukraine.
This was the Greek prime minister’s first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion. “My presence here reflects the respect of the entire free world for your people, and underlines Greece’s commitment to remain by your side,” Mr Mitsotakis said.
He chose to visit Odesa instead of Kyiv as the city has a special significance for Greeks. When Greece started a revolution against the Ottoman Empire in the early 19th century, the Greeks of Odesa played an important role in the country’s struggle for independence, and there is still a Greek diaspora in the city.
Moscow on Wednesday dismissed the issuance of International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against two top Russian commanders as a spurious provocation that had no legal significance for Russia. The ICC said on Tuesday it had issued arrest warrants for Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov for missile strikes against Ukrainian electricity infrastructure.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that as Russia was not a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, Moscow did not recognise the warrants.
In March last year the ICC issued warrants for the arrest of president Vladimir Putin and Russian children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova on war crimes charges related to the abduction of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin dismissed those warrants as outrageous at the time. Russia denies war crimes in Ukraine. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024. Additional reporting: Agencies