Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - At least 17 people were killed and numerous others were injured early on Friday when Russian missiles at...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - At least 17 people were killed and numerous others were injured early on Friday when Russian missiles attacked a nine-story apartment building and a resort complex close to the Ukrainian Black Sea town of Odesa, according to Ukrainian authorities.
According to the Ukrainian emergency ministry, the missile impacted the building in the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi at around one in the morning (2200 GMT on Thursday). In addition, it started a fire in a nearby store building.
The Odesa regional administration's spokeswoman, Serhiy Bratchuk, told Ukrainian state television that a rescue effort was in progress since some individuals were still buried under the debris after a portion of the structure fell.
According to Bratchuk, another missile struck a resort complex, injuring numerous individuals.
Details of the incident could not be independently verified by Reuters.
It followed Russia's announcement on Thursday that it would leave Snake Island as a "gesture of goodwill" to demonstrate that Moscow was not impeding U.N. efforts to build a humanitarian corridor that would allow grains to be transferred from Ukraine.
Following an artillery and missile attack, Ukraine claimed to have forced Russian forces off the rocky outcrop. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praised the tactical success.
"Security is not yet guaranteed. It still does not guarantee that the adversary won't return, "In his nightly video address, he stated. "However, this greatly restricts what the occupiers may do. We shall gradually drive them away from our sea, land, and sky."
However, in the city of Lysychansk, Ukrainian forces were clinging to life by a thread.
Regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai claimed on Ukrainian television that Russian artillery pounded the area from many angles while the Russian troops came from other locations.
Zelenskiy stated that "the occupiers' superiority in fire power is still very much in display." "They have just gathered all of their forces to attack us."
Since taking Sievierodonetsk, on the other side of the Siverskyi Donets River, last week after weeks of fierce warfare, Russian forces have been attempting to encircle Lysychansk.
Residents of Sievierodonetsk have come out of their basements and are searching among the debris of their destroyed city in an effort to rebuild.
"Nearly the whole city's infrastructure has been destroyed. Since May, we have been without gas, electricity, and water "A 65-year-old local named Sergei Oleinik told Reuters. We are relieved that this is over, and maybe soon, building will begin, allowing us to resume our more or less usual lives.
AID TO THE UK
RAINE
Ukraine aims to inflict enough damage to wear down Russia's advancing army and have launched a counterattack in the south of the area, despite recent retreats and devastating casualties in the eastern Donbas.
In addition to the armaments that Ukraine's Western allies have been supplying, the United States said that it would give the Kyiv administration additional $800 million in military aid and weapons.
Following the NATO conference in Madrid, U.S. President Joe Biden declared that Washington and its allies were committed to confronting Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At a news conference, Biden stated, "I don't know how it will end, but it will not end with Russia defeating Ukraine. For however long it takes, "We are going to support Ukraine."
AFFIRE AND SMOKE
According to a Ukrainian military statement posted on Facebook on Friday, Ukrainian forces in the "south" area of the Joint Command of the Ukrainian armed forces killed 35 Russian servicemen and disabled two tanks and four armoured vehicles.
Oleksandr Vilkul, the regional governor of Kriviy Rih, posted on Telegram that "the Ukrainian armed forces are not only holding defence lines but also engaging in successful operations aimed at liberating occupied towns in Kherson region from the invaders," adding that Ukrainian troops had retaken the town of Potyomkin.
Reuters was unable to quickly confirm any combat assertions.
After weeks in which the four-month-old conflict seemed to be moving in Russia's favour, Snake Island was retaken by Ukraine.
The island looked to be visible from the air in a picture that the Ukrainian military shared on Facebook, with many columns of black smoke rising above it.
"With two speed boats, the enemy quickly evacuated the remaining garrison and most likely abandoned the island. Currently, fire is consuming Snake Island, explosions are bursting, "It read.
Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov claimed that although the island was not yet under Ukrainian control, it will soon be.
The rocky ledge looks out onto sea lanes leading to Odesa, the key Black Sea port for Ukraine, where Russia is obstructing food shipments from one of the biggest grain exporters in the world.
The West's top priority has been to lift the blockade. As "blackmail," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has charged Russia with intentionally causing world starvation.
Moscow disputes any obstruction of the ports and attributes food shortages to Western sanctions, which it claims restrict its own exports.
In a speech delivered in Moscow on Thursday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo expressed the hope that the world's supply chains for food and fertiliser might be restored and volunteered to serve as a diplomatic intermediary between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart.
"I really value President Putin's earlier promise to guarantee the security of food and fertiliser imports from both Russia and Ukraine. The news is good "said he.
