Russian Missile and Drone Attack on Odesa Injures One, Damages Port

A Ukrainian drone unit commander nicknamed Giocondo communicates with headquarters during an attack in the outskirts of Kremmina, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)
A Ukrainian drone unit commander nicknamed Giocondo communicates with headquarters during an attack in the outskirts of Kremmina, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)
TT

Russian Missile and Drone Attack on Odesa Injures One, Damages Port

A Ukrainian drone unit commander nicknamed Giocondo communicates with headquarters during an attack in the outskirts of Kremmina, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)
A Ukrainian drone unit commander nicknamed Giocondo communicates with headquarters during an attack in the outskirts of Kremmina, Ukraine, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen)

One woman was injured and buildings and port infrastructure were severely damaged in Russia's overnight missile and drone attack on the port of Odesa in southern Ukraine, Ukraine's military said on Monday.

"The sea port in Odesa suffered significant damage, a fire broke out in the port's hotel, which has not been functioning for several years," the south command of Ukraine's armed forces said on the Telegram messaging app.

"Firefighters promptly eliminated it."

Ukraine's Air Force said that its air defense systems destroyed 19 Iranian-made Shahed drones, 11 cruise missiles and two hypersonic missiles that Russia launched on Ukraine overnight, vast majority directed at Odesa.

Three other drones were destroyed earlier on Sunday, it said.

Reuters could not independently verify the report.

Earlier, Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, said that a woman was taken to a hospital after a shrapnel injury in result of the blast wave.

Ukraine's south military command posted on its Telegram messaging app several pictures showing a high-rise building with blown up windows and severe damage to its structure.

There was no immediate comment from Russia about the attack.

The situation in Odesa and its ports has been watched carefully by grain markets, after Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" for ships to sail into Black Sea ports and load grain for African and Asian markets, following Russia exiting a deal that ensured the safe exports of Ukraine's grain.

In the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, mayor Oleksandr Vilkul said one Russian drone had been shot down and falling debris caused a fire at an industrial enterprise, which had since been extinguished. He reported no casualties.

Russia's defense ministry said on Monday that its air defense systems destroyed four Ukraine-launched drones over the northwestern part of the Black Sea and over the Crimean Peninsula.
It was not immediately known whether there was any damage or injuries as a result of the reported attacks.
Reuters was not able to independently verify the Russian report. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
Separately, the ministry said that four other drones were destroyed overnight over Russia's Kursk and Belgorod regions.



Bangladesh Says Student Leaders Held for Their Own Safety

People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
TT

Bangladesh Says Student Leaders Held for Their Own Safety

People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
People take part in a song march to protest against the indiscriminate killings and mass arrest in Dhaka on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Bangladesh said three student leaders had been taken into custody for their own safety after the government blamed their protests against civil service job quotas for days of deadly nationwide unrest.

Students Against Discrimination head Nahid Islam and two other senior members of the protest group were Friday forcibly discharged from hospital and taken away by a group of plainclothes detectives.

The street rallies organized by the trio precipitated a police crackdown and days of running clashes between officers and protesters that killed at least 201 people, according to an AFP tally of hospital and police data.

Islam earlier this week told AFP he was being treated at the hospital in the capital Dhaka for injuries sustained during an earlier round of police detention.

Police had initially denied that Islam and his two colleagues were taken into custody before home minister Asaduzzaman Khan confirmed it to reporters late on Friday.

"They themselves were feeling insecure. They think that some people were threatening them," he said.

"That's why we think for their own security they needed to be interrogated to find out who was threatening them. After the interrogation, we will take the next course of action."

Khan did not confirm whether the trio had been formally arrested.

Days of mayhem last week saw the torching of government buildings and police posts in Dhaka, and fierce street fights between protesters and riot police elsewhere in the country.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government deployed troops, instituted a nationwide internet blackout and imposed a curfew to restore order.

- 'Carried out raids' -

The unrest began when police and pro-government student groups attacked street rallies organized by Students Against Discrimination that had remained largely peaceful before last week.

Islam, 26, the chief coordinator of Students Against Discrimination, told AFP from his hospital bed on Monday that he feared for his life.

He said that two days beforehand, a group of people identifying themselves as police detectives blindfolded and handcuffed him and took him to an unknown location to be tortured before he was released the next morning.

His colleague Asif Mahmud, also taken into custody at the hospital on Friday, told AFP earlier that he had also been detained by police and beaten at the height of last week's unrest.

Police have arrested at least 4,500 people since the unrest began.

"We've carried out raids in the capital and we will continue the raids until the perpetrators are arrested," Dhaka Metropolitan Police joint commissioner Biplob Kumar Sarker told AFP.

"We're not arresting general students, only those who vandalized government properties and set them on fire."