Russia fires hypersonic missiles toward Odesa, Russian military attacks targeted a shopping center and two hotels in the southern port city of Odesa on Monday.
According to Sergey Bratchuk, a representative for the Odesa regional military administration, three Kinzhal missiles — Russia’s new hypersonic missiles — were fired from a plane and targeted a “tourism infrastructure target.” According to Bratchuk, two persons were hospitalized as a result of the missile hit.
Bratchuk did not name the target, but CNN has tracked down and verified the veracity of two videos circulating on social media that show extensive damage to a hotel in Zatoka. The Odesa City Council was the first to publicize one of the films.
The hotel is the second in the Odesa region to be targeted on Monday. It’s unknown why the two hotels were targeted, or who might have been staying there.
According to Ukraine’s Armed Forces Southern Operational Command, seven missiles also targeted a commercial complex. The strike injured five people and killed one, according to the report.
“And if you’ll notice, (Russia has) just launched the hypersonic missile, because it’s the only thing that they can get through with absolute certainty,” Biden said. “It’s a consequential weapon … it’s almost impossible to stop it. There’s a reason they’re using it.”
“I would not see it as a game-changer,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin told CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“On March 18, the Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse of missiles and aviation ammunition of Ukrainian troops in the village of Delyatin, Ivano-Frankivsk region,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
The UK Defense Ministry said Moscow probably deployed the Kinzhal to “detract from a lack of progress in Russia’s ground campaign.”