The sound of a large explosion reverberated around the Ukrainian port of Odesa as President Volodymyr Zelensky and Greece’s Prime Minister ended a tour of the war-ravaged southern city on Wednesday.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the delegations were getting into their vehicles when they heard the blast, which he called a “vivid reminder” that Odesa is gripped by the war with Russia. It is one thing to hear about the war and “quite another to experience war firsthand,” Mitsotakis said.
Zelensky said the explosion caused an unknown number of dead and wounded. “You see who we’re dealing with, they don’t care where to hit,” he told reporters.
Zelensky has regularly visited cities and military units on the front line during the war, always in secrecy. Foreign leaders have made numerous trips to Ukraine, and they occasionally have had to take refuge in shelters when air raid sirens sound. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen condemned on X what she called the “vile attack” during the Greek visit. She called it a “new attempt at terror” by Russia.
