According to a senior Ukrainian official, five people were killed and 18 were injured in Russian missile attacks on the southern port city of Odesa, while another source called them “Easter presents from Putin.”

“Five Ukrainian people were slain, and 18 were injured,” stated Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s President’s Office. “These are the only ones who were discovered. And there will almost certainly be more.”

One of the victims, according to Yermak, was a 3-month-old infant “A young boy who was forced to spend his first Easter with his parents. Nothing is sacrosanct in this world. Absolutely. Evil will be brought to justice.”

Many Ukrainians observe Easter according to the Julian calendar, which falls on April 24 this year.

According to Anton Gerashchenko, an assistant to Ukraine’s interior minister, Russian forces fired at least six cruise missiles towards Odesa.

“Residents in various parts of the city heard the explosions. The rocket strikes, as well as the activities of our air defence system, were involved “he stated

At least one missile landed and burst, residential buildings were struck, and one person was burnt inside their car in the yard of one of the buildings, according to Gerashchenko.

Odesa City Council Deputy Petro Obukhov dubbed the missile attacks “Easter presents from Putin” in a Telegram post.

Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, criticised the strikes, stating, “The sole purpose of Russian missile strikes on Odesa is to terrorise the population. Russia must be labelled a state sponsor of terrorism and dealt with as such. There was no business, no relationships, and no cultural endeavours to speak of. We need a barrier between civilisation and barbarians launching missiles at peaceful communities.”

Officials in Ukraine have warned of possible Russian assaults during the Easter holiday celebrations. Despite Ukrainian soldiers holding out in the city’s enormous steel works, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently declared that Russian forces have “liberated” the Azov Sea port of Mariupol.

In a second statement, Ukraine’s Air Command South reported that Russian planes also fired missiles against a military facility:

“Today … the air defense group of the South Air Command conducted combat operations to destroy enemy cruise missiles launched by Russia’s TU-95 strategic aircraft from the Caspian Sea,” the statement said. “During the engagement, warriors of anti-aircraft missile units destroyed two enemy cruise missiles (preliminary X555 or X101), which struck the city of Odesa and two operational-tactical level UAVs, which presumably corrected the trajectory of cruise missiles and placed active obstacles to the air-defense system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”