"Exquisite work": Shahed-type drone lodged in Odesa apartment block is diffused 15 floors up

An emergency worker and police officers in the city of Odesa have defused an unexploded Russian drone that had become lodged in the wall of a high-rise apartment block.

Sources: State Emergency Service of Ukraine on Facebook; Odesa Oblast police

Details: The State Emergency Service of Ukraine and Odesa Oblast police described the operation to defuse the drone as "exquisite work".

A bomb disposal expert has defused a Shahed-type drone lodged in an Odesa apartment block. Photo: The State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa Oblast on Facebook

The Russian drone hit the façade of the 24-storey apartment building during yet another attack on Odesa on the night of 19-20 May. It became lodged 15 floors up, but its high-explosive incendiary warhead, weighing more than 50 kg, failed to detonate.

Emergency workers deployed an aerial ladder platform at the scene and used it to lift Mykhailo Berlinskyi, head of the Odesa Oblast police bomb disposal service, to the level of the 14th floor of the building.

Quote from the police: "Balancing above the void, step by step, he [Berlinskyi] manually disarmed and removed the drone's warhead from the destroyed wall."

More details: Workers from the State Emergency Service then checked debris from the drone for hazardous substances and radiation levels. Once they had confirmed that the munition did not pose an immediate threat, it was handed over to bomb disposal experts.

The drone is to be transported in a special vehicle and detonated at a designated site.

Quote from the State Emergency Service: "What happened was a unique, extremely complex and, without exaggeration, exquisite special operation that required maximum concentration and fully synchronised action by the State Emergency Service and the National Police [...]

Thanks to the coordinated and brave actions of Odesa police officers and emergency workers, the threat to the building was completely eliminated."

Background:

• Russian forces attacked the city of Odesa on the night of 19-20 May, damaging residential buildings and cars and causing destruction. One single-storey building was completely destroyed. In addition, a large fire broke out in a warehouse building.
• A total of 86 rescue workers and 20 fire appliances and units of special equipment from the State Emergency Service were involved in dealing with the aftermath, along with forces from the Association of Volunteer Firefighters of Ukraine.

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