KYIV, Ukraine, Nov 15, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The toll from a massive Russian
attack that set apartments alight and knocked out heating to thousands in
Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa rose to one dead and 10 wounded,
authorities said Friday.

The Thursday night strikes on the Black Sea city damaged residential
buildings, the heating system, churches and educational institutions,
according to Odesa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, who said it had been "a massive
combined enemy strike".

Trukhanov said early Friday that a 35-year-old woman sleeping near a window
at the time of the attack had died.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said another 10 people were wounded,
including two children.

Fires broke out in several places but were quickly extinguished, while the
main heating pipeline was damaged, leaving tens of thousands in the cold as
nightly temperatures plunge to freezing.

"More than 40,000 people (as well as) medical and social institutions are
without heating," Trukhanov wrote on Telegram. "Generators and heaters are
working in medical institutions."

The mayor's office said hot drinks and blankets were being distributed while
the pipeline was restored.

After fleeing during the air raid siren, Odesa resident Oleksandra said she
saw pictures of her damaged home.

"When everything happened, we were hiding in a shelter. We saw that this was
our house in the photos from the local channels," she told public broadcaster
Suspilne Odesa.

Ukraine is bracing for its toughest winter of war yet, with Moscow having
destroyed swathes of its generating capacity and continuing to strike energy
sites.

In previous winters, millions of Ukrainians endured regular blackouts and
lost heating in sub-zero conditions.

The attack on Odesa, which has frequently been targeted since Moscow launched
its invasion in February 2022, is the latest in an uptick in strikes on
Ukrainian cities, mainly in the south of the war-battered country.

Ukrainian forces are losing ground in the east and concerns are mounting in
Kyiv over the future of foreign military aid after the victory of Donald
Trump in the United States presidential election.

Kyiv has for months been appealing to its Western allies to provide more air-
defence systems to fend off Russian attacks on cities and critical
infrastructure.