Russian attack leaves 21 dead in Odessa, southern Ukraine, officials say

Russia toppled part of an apartment building as residents slept on Friday in missile attacks near Ukraine’s port of Odessa, which officials say killed at least 21 people, hours after Russian troops abandoned the post. advanced on small Cobra Island.

Residents of Serhiivka village helped workers remove rubble from the nine-story building, a part of which was completely destroyed in the morning strike.

Walls and windows of a neighboring 14-story building were also damaged by the shock wave. Nearby holiday camps were also hit.

“We came here to the scene, assessed the situation together with first responders and local residents and together we helped those who survived. And those who sadly died. We helped carry them,” said Oleksandr Abramov, who lives nearby and rushed to the scene when he heard the explosion.

Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odessa regional administration, said 21 people were confirmed dead, including a 12-year-old boy.

Among the victims was an employee of the Children’s Rehabilitation Center, set up by Ukraine’s neighbor Moldova, at the resort. Another five were injured.

“These peaceful people made the days of Moldovan children more beautiful, they took care of their rehabilitation with much love and devotion,” said Moldova Health Minister Alla Nemerenko on her Facebook page.

The regional governor said the missiles were fired from the direction of the Black Sea.

The Kremlin has denied targeting civilians.

“I would like to remind you of the president’s words that the Russian Armed Forces do not work with civilian targets,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

The attack came just four days after Russia hit a crowded shopping mall in central Ukraine, killing at least 19 people.

Kiev says Moscow has stepped up its long-range attacks, hitting civilian targets far from the front lines in what Ukraine says are war crimes. Russia says it is targeting military sites.

Thousands of civilians have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Russia calls the invasion a “special operation” to root out the nationalists. Ukraine and its western allies say it is a war of unprovoked aggression.

“Push Back”

The attack on Serhiivka came shortly after Russia withdrew its troops from Cobra Island, a strategically important outcrop about 140 km southeast of Odessa, conquered on the first day of the war. They used it to control the northwest of the Black Sea.

In his evening video address, President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed what he described as a strategic victory on Cobra Island.

“It still doesn’t guarantee safety. It still does not guarantee that the enemy will not return,” he said. “But this significantly limits the actions of the occupants. Step by step, we will push them back from our sea, our land and our sky.”

Russia has used its control of the sea to impose a blockade on Ukraine, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, threatening to destroy Ukraine’s economy and cause global famine.

Moscow denies being blamed for a food crisis, which it says is caused by Western sanctions that have crippled its own exports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Indonesia’s president on Thursday and spoke by phone on Friday with India’s prime minister, promising the two big food importers that Russia will remain a major grain supplier.

Ukraine said a Russian-flagged freighter, the Zhibek Zholy, had left the Russian-occupied port of Berdyansk with a load of Ukrainian grain. Kiev has requested that Turkey detain the ship, according to a Ukrainian official and document seen by Reuters.

A Russian-based official said on Thursday that, after a shutdown of several months, the first cargo ship left the port of Berdyansk, but did not name the Zhibek Zholy.

Ukraine has accused Russia of stealing grain from territories that Russian forces have seized since its invasion.

The Kremlin has previously denied this and did not respond to requests for comment.