Russian drone strikes targeted Odesa overnight Friday into Saturday, damaging a maternity hospital moments after staff evacuated dozens of newborns and patients. The attack formed part of a massive barrage in which Moscow launched 273 drones across Ukraine, with Ukrainian air defenses downing 252 of them.

A Shahed-type drone hit the roof of Odesa Maternity Hospital No. 5 in the city's Prymorskyi district around 1:30 a.m. local time on March 28. The strike destroyed the roof, connecting structures between the third and fourth floors, and parts of several wards, shattering windows and igniting fires. At the time, 22 newborns, including twins on ventilator support, 32 other patients, and 27 medical staff were inside the facility. Chief doctor Ihor Shpak credited timely evacuations to an underground shelter for saving everyone present, noting post-operative patients were also secured in intensive care.

No deaths were reported directly at the maternity hospital, though the broader strikes in Odesa killed two people and injured 12 to 14 others, including a child. Across Ukraine, the drone assault claimed four lives: two in Odesa, one energy worker at gas facilities in Poltava Oblast, and one man in a residential building in Kryvyi Rih. More than 60 drones swarmed Odesa alone, also hitting residential buildings, port infrastructure, and three educational institutions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the strikes as "pure terror against ordinary civilian life," emphasizing there was no military objective. "Each such strike proves that Russia does not want to end the war," he stated on Telegram, sharing images of damaged buildings and firefighters amid rubble. Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper and city military administration head Serhii Lysak confirmed the extensive civilian impacts.

The assault followed Ukraine's recent long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure, including drone attacks on oil facilities. Russia has not publicly commented on the Odesa hospital strike. Rescue teams, numbering 179 personnel, extinguished fires and cleared debris from the hospital and surrounding high-rises, where upper floors and over 10 vehicles were also damaged.

This incident echoes earlier strikes, such as one on March 24 in Ivano-Frankivsk that damaged another maternity hospital during Russia's record drone barrage of nearly 1,000 UAVs. The ongoing air campaign highlights the intensified use of low-cost Iranian-designed Shahed drones by Russian forces to overwhelm Ukrainian defenses and target rear areas far from the front lines.