Ukraine: 18 killed in Odessa rocket attack – Ongoing bombing of Kiev

LAST UPDATE: 14.54

Eighteen people were killed in a rocket attack on a village in Odessa in southern Ukraine, regional authorities announced today.

“Eight men and ten women were killed” in the village of Lipetsk, Odessa regional authorities said in a statement.

At least six people were also killed in the town of Brovary, near the capital, Kiev, authorities said.

Ukrainian officials also said that Russian helicopters had attacked Gostomel, a military airport near the capital Kiev, and that Ukrainian forces had shot down three of them, while a Reuters reporter reported that several explosions were heard from Kiev.

Ukrainian border officials say the Russian military is trying to infiltrate the Kiev region and the Zhytomyr region on the border with Belarus, and that Russia is using Grad missile systems.

A Reuters correspondent also reported that black smoke appeared to be rising over the headquarters of the intelligence services of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the center of Kiev.

Ukraine announced today that part of its military command centers have been hit by Russian missile strikes following the military operation launched by Moscow against its neighbor.

However, the headquarters of the army intelligence services were not damaged and the smoke seems to be rising from a large fire next to this building where uniforms were throwing bags, according to the Reuters correspondent.

A Ukrainian military plane was shot down today and five people were killed, according to Ukrainian police and the country’s emergency services, as the armed forces try to defend themselves against a massive Russian military operation.