In the early hours of July 3, 2025, Russia launched a wave of 52 attack drones across Ukraine, striking Odesa and damaging a nine-storey residential building—evacuating 50 people, injuring five civilians (including two children), and destroying six apartments while partially damaging 36 others as was reported by Ukrainian government officials on the same day.
The overnight assault began around 21:30 on July 2, when Russian forces launched 52 Shahed-type attack drones and decoys at targets across Ukraine. Ukraine’s air defense successfully intercepted 40 of these UAVs—22 by anti-aircraft fire and 18 by electronic warfare—while impacts were recorded in seven locations and debris fell in one area.
In Odesa, a nine-storey apartment building sustained a direct drone hit, sparking fires on its seventh through ninth floors that emergency crews swiftly extinguished. The strike completely destroyed six apartments and partially damaged 36 others, leaving the scale of structural losses under continued assessment.
According to the National Police press service, five residents were wounded in the attack, among them a 7-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl; both children were hospitalized with smoke inhalation, while the other injured adults received necessary treatment and continue recovery on an outpatient basis.
Rescue teams evacuated 50 people from the damaged building perimeter and freed 10 individuals from beneath rubble, demonstrating rapid and coordinated civil-defense efforts. Law enforcement continues documenting the aftermath of this crime against Odesa’s civilian population.
Earlier, an overnight drone assault on June 3 struck multiple Ukrainian regions, injuring civilians and igniting fires across several cities—including Odesa, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv—after Russia deployed over 100 unmanned aerial vehicles in the attack.
