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Ukrainian officials accused Russia of firing hypersonic missiles in an attack that targeted civilian structures in the port city of Odesa. Seven missiles were fired at the city, including three Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
The missile strikes leveled a shopping mall, a warehouse, and several hotels and resulted in at least one fatality and left five others injured.
"These strikes did not achieve any military aim," Odesa native Oleksiy Honcharnko told Newsweek. "Maybe it will scare off some of the citizens who were planning to return to their homes, but strategically speaking, it changes nothing."
The continued bombardment of Odesa has turned many people in the city against Russia.
"If before the war Odesa was around 40% pro-Russian, now it's 90% pro-Ukrainian," Sergey Steblina, a local designer, told Newsweek. "I'm not going anywhere, and most of the people I know who evacuated in March are still planning to come back."
This is not the first time Russia has used its advanced hypersonic missiles in Ukraine. They were also used in March in strikes on an underground storage facility and a fuel storage depot.
The missiles can be launched from MiG-31 fighter jets and are nearly impossible to shoot down, even with advanced missile defense systems.