Yastremska's Odesa Flat Destroyed in Russian Strike — SkimNews
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- Dayana Yastremska said a Russian Kalibr cruise missile directly hit her family's flat in Odesa on Friday night, posting photos of the burning multi-storey residential building
- Yastremska wrote on social media that the only item to survive the strike was a Roland Garros clay-orange towel from the Paris Grand Slam, calling it "a piece of world tennis" that "survived a Russian missile" while "our home did not"
- Odesa regional head Oleh Kiper said 37 people were injured, including a baby, and two remain missing after the combined missile and drone attack on Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk
- Yastremska directly tagged the WTA and International Tennis Federation on Instagram, asking the governing bodies to view the destruction "through our eyes"
- Yastremska reached the Australian Open semifinals in 2024 and is currently ranked 113th in women's singles
- Ukraine international Heorhiy Sudakov had his Kyiv flat severely damaged by a Russian drone last year while his wife and child were home, part of a pattern of strikes on Ukrainian athletes' residences since 2022
Why it matters: Russian strikes have now directly hit the homes of two Ukrainian international athletes within roughly two years, and Yastremska's public tagging of the WTA and ITF puts those governing bodies on the spot to publicly acknowledge the civilian toll on their players' families — a pressure point other coverage of the broader missile campaign largely misses.
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