The Russian military carried out a shelling of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa just before a scheduled meeting between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy near the site of the shelling.

According to Ukrainian reports, the shelling occurred just 200 meters (about 660 feet) from where the Ukrainian and Greek leaders were at the time.

Multiple people were reportedly killed and wounded in the shelling.

The Ukrainian president said that he did not see the attack itself but was able to hear the noise of the explosion from the attack.

"We saw this attack today. You can see who we are dealing with, they don't care where they hit. I know there were victims today, I still don't know all the details, but I know there are dead and wounded," Zelenskyy said.

Mitsotakis said that he "thinks that for us this is the best and most vivid reminder that there is a real war here. Every day there is a war, which affects not only the front, the soldiers, it affects our innocent brothers."

European Union officials were quick to condemn the attack. European Council President Charles Michel called it "another sign of Russia’s cowardly tactics in its war of aggression against Ukraine."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the attack "vile" and said that ".o one is intimidated by this new attempt at terror - certainly not the two leaders on the ground nor the brave people of Ukraine. More than ever, we stand by Ukraine."