A wave of Russian attacks on southern Ukraine on Thursday night destroyed a Jewish school and damaged a nearby orphanage housing more than 100 children in Odesa, community leaders said.

The Russian drone attack on the Black Sea port city damaged port infrastructure and wounded two people, according to the regional governor quoted by Reuters. A pre-dawn attack on the city on Monday wounded 14, including two children, AP reported.

Drone attacks across Ukraine intensified Friday morning, as Russia launched more than 400 drones at the country, on top of 210 drone attacks Thursday night, according to AP. While Russia has mainly carried out major drone and missile strikes at night since the start of the war four years ago, daytime attacks have become more frequent in recent weeks.

No injuries were reported at the two Jewish institutions, but the Chabad-run “Or Avner” school was rendered unusable after a direct strike. The nearby Jewish orphanage, part of the “Mishpacha Ukraine” network and home to 124 children, was also damaged.

“We had barely managed to close the door when the massive explosion hit. It shook the entire street,” the institution’s head, Rabbi Avraham Wolff, told the Chabad.org website.

Rabbi Moshe Azman, Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, credited caregivers and older children at the orphanage for saving the lives of the institution’s little children in a tweet on X, saying they managed to get the young kids to safety........

© The Times of Israel