Explosion rocks Odesa near where Zelenskyy was meeting Greek PM

An explosion rocked the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Wednesday during a top-secret visit there by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The blast, caused by a ballistic missile, took place a few hundred meters away from the leaders’ motorcade, a Greek official who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to POLITICO.

Greek State Minister Stavros Papastavrou, a top aide to Mitsotakis, confirmed to domestic media that there are no injuries among the Greek delegation following the explosion.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast. Odesa has been under Russian fire since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The meeting between Zelenskyy and Mitsotakis went ahead as planned, despite the explosion. Mitsotakis’ visit was organized to demonstrate Greece’s support for Ukraine.

When French President Emmanuel Macron last week floated the idea of Western boots on the ground in Ukraine, Mitsotakis was one of several EU leaders to discount that option.

“I want to assure you that there’s no question of sending forces, European forces of NATO in Ukraine … it is an issue that for Greece does not exist, and I believe it doesn’t exist for the great majority of our colleagues,” Mitsotakis told reporters after the meeting in Paris.