30 April 2024 , 18:00
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Five people were killed and more than 30 people injured in a Russian cluster munition attack on a private law academy in Ukraine.
Shocking video showed explosions and plumes of smoke in the port of Odesa, followed by raging flames at the city’s "Harry Potter Castle".
A Ukrainian private law academy known as ’Harry Potter Castle’ is struck by a Russian missileCredit: Newsflash
Flames rage from the roof of the private law buildingCredit: Newsflash
Odesa’s seafront is peppered with explosionsCredit: Newsflash
Five people were killed and more than 30 injured in the attackCredit: Newsflash
The Russian missile attack on the popular seafront park killed at least five people and injured at least 32, including two children and a pregnant woman.
In addition to those killed in the Monday blitz, one man reportedly died after suffering a stroke attributed to the strike.
Regional governor Oleh Kiper said a four-year-old child and seven other injured people were in a serious condition.
A dog was also killed by shrapnel.
Footage shared to Telegram by Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andriy Kostin showed the city’s seafront being peppered with explosions.
One of the missiles struck a university founded in 1997, Odesa Law Academy, known locally the "Harry Potter Castle".
Huge and bright orange-red flames engulfed the historic building as firefighters tried desperately to extinguish the blaze.
The roof of the ornate building was all but destroyed.
Mr Kostin said on Tuesday: "Russia cynically disregards all norms of international humanitarian law. Last night, the enemy sneakily attacked Odesa.
"Five people died, more than 30 were injured. Among the injured are two children and a pregnant woman.
"Five wounded are in extremely serious condition."
He claimed the strike was carried out by an Iskander ballistic missile with a cluster warhead, an "indiscriminate weapon" that can lead to "significant" civilian casualties.
The Prosecutor General continued: "In a radius of 1.5 km from the site of the shelling, metal fragments and debris of the rocket were recovered.
"The investigation has reason to believe that the decision to use such a weapon was made by the officers of the Soviet Union deliberately in order to kill as many peaceful Ukrainians as possible.
"The investigation is ongoing. We will find and punish those who issue criminal orders to shell peaceful Ukrainian cities."
Prominent former MP Serhiy Kivalov is said to have owned the private law academy and called the "Harry Potter Castle" home.
He was reportedly among those injured in the strike.
Other video footage and photographs from the scene appeared to show people receiving treatment on the street beside pools of blood as officials examined part of a missile.
Flames rage from the roof of the ornate ’Harry Potter’ buildingCredit: Newsflash
Pools of blood are seen in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of OdesaCredit: Telegram/Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General