Dayana Yastremska says Russian missile destroyed family apartment in Odesa

Ukrainian tennis player Dayana Yastremska says a Russian missile strike destroyed her family's apartment in Odesa, with a Roland Garros towel the only item she identified as having survived. BBC News reported that the 26-year-old shared photographs of the damage on social media on Saturday, September 12.

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Yastremska described the strike as a direct hit by a Kalibr cruise missile. Her posts showed a burning residential tower and an orange tournament towel hanging amid the wreckage. The account of the apartment's destruction and the identification of the weapon came from the player, as quoted in the BBC's reporting.

The wider attack struck Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk on Friday night. Regional head Oleh Kiper said 37 people had been injured, including a baby, and two people were missing, according to BBC News. Those figures covered the attack on the two cities, rather than establishing who had been inside Yastremska's apartment.

The player also directed her message at tennis authorities. French outlet 20 Minutes reported that she addressed the Women's Tennis Association and International Tennis Federation, asking them to view the destruction from the Ukrainian perspective and criticising their neutrality. She contrasted the survival of an object associated with international tennis with the loss of her family's home.

The war had already forced Yastremska to leave Odesa earlier in her career. In March 2022, the WTA reported that she and her younger sister Ivanna had fled Ukraine, travelling by boat to Romania before reaching Lyon. Their parents remained behind in Odesa. Yastremska had spent two nights sheltering from missile strikes in an underground car park before leaving, then competed in Lyon on a wildcard.

She subsequently reached the Australian Open semi-finals in 2024 after coming through qualifying. The WTA recorded her quarter-final victory over Linda Noskova as making her the fifth qualifier in the Open Era to reach a women's Grand Slam semi-final, and only the second at the Australian Open. Saturday's posts brought attention back to her family home rather than results on court.