Residents of a nine-story building in Odesa, which was hit by a Russian drone attack on July 3, are returning to their homes to collect essential belongings. However, utility services and rescuers warn that staying in the damaged building can be dangerous, as the structures may collapse at any moment.
Alice, one of the residents, decided to return to her destroyed apartment to try to retrieve personal items.
“We were given three minutes, I signed a statement taking responsibility for my life and health, but realistically, I needed to take at least something more, plus there were some things that no one else knew about, but I did, and I had to get them.”
Together with her brother, Alice managed to carry out only three bags: a pillow, a robe for her grandmother, and shoes for a young man who couldn’t take anything himself. Currently, they are being sheltered by a relative living in a neighboring building.
Alice notes that she was lucky because her son, who is very afraid of air raid alarms, was at his grandmother’s in Bulgaria at the time. She recounts that during the attack, everyone realized the drone was heading straight for their apartment.
“Even my neighbor said that this one was probably ours. And it really came to us. I don’t know, I just had this adrenaline rush. We were all gathered. Everyone was doing something. But then the neighbor started screaming loudly. And because of that, I began to worry.”
Another resident, Natalia, lives on the sixth floor. She says that reaching her apartment now is very difficult and dangerous due to the building’s condition.
“We can’t get in there, unfortunately, our things remain inside. And about the future, we were told that in a week they plan to inform us about the condition of this entrance and how the reconstruction plan will proceed.”
Attack on Odesa on July 3, 2025
On July 3 at 2:23 a.m., an air raid alert was announced when the Air Forces reported drones moving toward the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district of Odesa region. However, by 2:53 a.m., it became known that drones were approaching the regional center. Explosions in Odesa were heard around 2:51 a.m., and the all-clear was given at 3:04 a.m.
The attack damaged a multi-story building and other civilian infrastructure. Six apartments in the residential building were completely destroyed, and another 36 were partially damaged. According to the regional military administration, five people were injured, including two children who were hospitalized with poisoning from combustion products. The last, sixth victim was an elderly man.
The Odesa Regional Prosecutor’s Office has launched a pre-trial investigation into war crimes under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.