Three killed in missile attack on Odesa
Three people have been killed and at least 13 injured in a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Tuesday morning, Ukrainian forces have said.
Air defences downed two Kalibr cruise missiles, but authorities said the attack still struck civilian infrastructure including a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, restaurants and shops.
The warehouse of a retail chain was also hit in the attack, causing a fire to break out.
Work is under way to clear the debris and a search is taking place for people trapped under the rubble.
Key events
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the Ukrainian presidency, has used the strike on Odesa to reiterate Ukraine’s frequent calls for a tightening of economic sanctions on Russia. In a post on Telegram, he said:
The Russians shelled the city with Kalibr cruise missiles. Civilians died.
Each of these missiles has at least 40 foreign components. Without microelectronics, Russia will not be able to produce them.
Sanctions must be strengthened, in particular, against those who help the terrorist country to obtain components for weapons.
A planned visit by the UN nuclear chief, Rafael Grossi, to Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been delayed by “some hours”, a diplomatic source has told Reuters. No reason has been given for the delay.
Suspilne reports that the number of people killed due to the rocket attack on Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday has increased to 12.
Citing the city authority, it said a 67-year-old wounded man died in the hospital overnight.
Dmitry Medvedev, long-term ally of Vladimir Putin and currently deputy chair of the security council of Russia, has said on Telegram that Russia needs to put in a demilitarised zone as far west as Ukraine’s Lviv, which he referred to by its Russian name Lvov and German name Lemberg.
He went on to say that, as a result of the Nord Stream sabotage, for which he cited “western complicity”, that Russia should have “no restrictions left to refrain from destroying the cable communications of our enemies, laid along the ocean floor”.
Here are some images released by the emergency services in Ukraine showing the aftermath of strikes in Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region.
Three people have been killed and another three injured in an early morning Russian attack on Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka in Donetsk, according to the regional governor.
Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that at least five houses were destroyed and about 20 more were damaged in Kramatorsk, while two houses were destroyed and 55 were damaged in Kostyantynivka. It cites the regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
He stated that the attack happened at 5am local time (3am BST).
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on how it sees the situation on the ground in Ukraine. It claims:
In the last two weeks, there has been an uptick in Russian tactical combat air sorties, especially over southern Ukraine. This has almost certainly been in response to reports of increased Ukrainian offensive operations, as the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) attempt to support ground troops with airstrikes. Despite the uptick, VKS’ daily sortie rate remains much lower than the peak of up to 300 daily missions early in the war.
Russian-installed administrators of Nova Kakhovka have accused Ukrainian forces of shelling a residential area in the city, injuring one person.
Last week the Kakhovka dam in the city was destroyed, flooding swaths of land and forcing thousands to flee one of the biggest environmental disasters in Europe for decades.
The administration also said that shelling of the nearby village of Plodovoye disrupted power supply there.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Ukraine and Russia deny targeting civilians in their military operations. Each side has accused the other of shelling the flooded areas in the aftermath of the dam blast.
Separately, the administration said 7,200 people had been evacuated from the flooded areas in the past week, including 421 children.
– Reuters
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, says he won’t hesitate to use Russian tactical nuclear weapons if faced with an act of aggression.
Lukashenko’s comment contradicts earlier statements by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who has said that nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus would remain exclusively under the control of Moscow.
On Tuesday, Lukashenko said “everything is ready” for the Russian nuclear weapons’ deployment, adding that “it could take just a few days for us to get what we had asked for and even a bit more”.
Asked later by a Russian state TV host whether Belarus had already received some of the weapons, Lukashenko responded: “Not all of them, little by little.”
He appeared to confirm that his government had taken possession of some weapons from Russia and added that they were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
God forbid I have to make a decision to use those weapons today, but there would be no hesitation if we face an aggression.
But in a later media appearance on Russian TV on Tuesday, he clarified he would consult with Putin before using any of the weapons.
Listen, if a war starts, do you think I will look around? I pick up the phone, and wherever he is, he picks it up. If he calls, I pick it up any time. It’s no problem at all to coordinate launching a strike.
Russian officials had no immediate comment on Lukashenko’s remarks.
– AP
The International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Rafael Grossi, is expected to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to “make his own assessment” on the risks posed to the operation by the war in Ukraine.
Before his site visit, Grossi met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, on Tuesday night to discuss the issue after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, which formed a reservoir that provided cooling water for the plant.
Speaking to journalists before his visit, Grossi said the situation complicated “an already precarious nuclear safety and security situation”.
It is a step in the wrong direction, it is yet another step in the weakening of the safety net that one has in any nuclear power plant.
Grossi said he would assess the integrity of the station’s water channels and cooling pond, and clarify whether the pond has been mined.
I would say – again without having visited and on the basis of what my team there is informing me – there will be water (in the pond) for a few weeks, or maybe a month or two.
There is no immediate situation: there is water there, but it could be going down.
He also said that even if the reservoir empties “there are alternatives” such as pumping in water or drilling for groundwater.
Three killed in missile attack on Odesa
Three people have been killed and at least 13 injured in a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Tuesday morning, Ukrainian forces have said.
Air defences downed two Kalibr cruise missiles, but authorities said the attack still struck civilian infrastructure including a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, restaurants and shops.
The warehouse of a retail chain was also hit in the attack, causing a fire to break out.
Work is under way to clear the debris and a search is taking place for people trapped under the rubble.
Opening Summary
Hello and welcome back to our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine – this is Royce Kurmelovs bringing you the latest developments.
Three people have been killed and at least 13 injured during a missile attack on the city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday. Authorities say the attack struck civilian infrastructure in the southern port city and work is under way to pick through the rubble in the search for survivors.
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, has met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to discuss risks to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant before a planned visit to the facility. After the meeting, Grossi told journalists that he planned to travel to the plant on Wednesday so he could “make [his] own assessment” as to “what kind of danger we have”.
Zelenskiy has praised the courage of Ukrainian troops during the early stages of his country’s counteroffensive and singled out units operating near the besieged city of Bakhmut, saying: “There is forward movement in various areas.” Zelenskiy also praised several other units, thanking them “for your strength”.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, claimed that Ukrainian losses during the conflict were near “catastrophic” and that the counterattack had not been successful in any area. The Russian president made the claim during televised meetings with war correspondents and military bloggers. “This is a massive counteroffensive, using strategic reserves that were prepared for this task,” Putin said. “They lost over 160, we lost 54 tanks, and some of them are subject to restoration and repair.”
In other news:
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Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has said his country won’t hesitate to use Russian nuclear weapons in the event his country is threatened with repression.
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The US House of Representatives has voted unanimously on a resolution calling for Russia to immediately release the imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich.
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Moscow has flagged that it may withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal, after Putin said he had been cheated by the west, who had failed to deliver on a promise to help bring Russian agricultural goods to world markets.
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A Russian missile strike on a block of flats in Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine has killed 11 and injured more than 30 people, according to an updated casualty list provided by Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday.
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The US president, Joe Biden, has met Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg before a major meeting of the alliance next month in Lithuania where questions about Ukraine’s membership are expected to be addressed.
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The US government has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $325m which includes artillery rounds, anti-aircraft systems and 15 new Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. The UK Ministry of Defence has announced a $115m air defence package for Ukraine. Latvia has allocated another $460,000 in aid to Ukraine after the Kakhova dam disaster.
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Ukrainian forces have been confirmed to have liberated the village of Neskuchne on Tuesday after Reuters journalists were able to reach the area. Russia has not yet acknowledge any gains.
