Russian Missiles Slam Odesa, Skyscraper Hotel Is Hit

Russian forces carried out an air attack overnight on Odesa with missiles and Kamikaze drones. All of them were intercepted by Ukrainian anti-aircraft, except 1 Kalibr and 2 Onyx, regional administration authorities reported.

Russia used 12 Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles and 2 Onyx P-800 anti-ship missiles and 19 Shahed-136/131 drones.

A Kyiv Post reporter examined the results of the massive airstrike. The Hotel Odessa complex (formerly Kempinski) and exhibition center on the Cruise Pier were destroyed, as was a warehouse full of approximately 1,000 tons of grain located in the commercial port.

Local eyewitnesses told Kyiv Post that some drone or missiles hit the water “because they missed the target.”

The Odesa Military Administration has opened a preliminary investigation into a criminal case involving violations of the laws and customs of war. “Port infrastructure, grain storage facilities, storage premises of a private enterprise and several private houses on the outskirts of Odesa suffered damage,” the office statement said.

“The Odesa seaport and a nearby hotel were significantly damaged.”

According to the port management, the Hotel Odessa complex was built in joint ownership: 80 percent owned by the state, with the port as the budget holder, and 20 percent owned by a private company. The building was 19 stories high with a total area of 26,842 square meters and had approximately 160 rooms.

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In June 2011, the Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office announced the initiation of criminal proceedings against officials of the Odesa Sea Commercial Port and LLC Hotel Odessa due to suspicion of illegal leasing of the hotel building. In the same year the hotel ceased operations.

For 10 years, the abandoned hotel had been an eyesore for Odesites, witnesses told Kyiv Post, jutting out into skyline and visible from airplanes.

Before the full-scale invasion, there was already a talk of a plan to demolish the building and create a tourist port with investments from some of the Persian Gulf states.