According to kyiv at least 17 people were killed by strikes on buildings in Odessa, southern Ukraine. This is because the Ukrainian army just retook from the Russians the island Serpents in the Black Sea, which was strategically important for controlling maritime routes.
According to the latest reports from the Ukrainian emergency services, a missile launched from the Black Sea by a "strategic airplane" left "14 people dead and 30 others injured, including three children". Rescuers said that another missile was fired from the same aircraft and struck two buildings nearby, killing "three people" including a child. Fire caused delays in rescue operations.
Sergiy Brachuk, Odessa region administrator, said that the first strike "hit an eight-storey residential building located in the Bilgorod–Dniester region," approximately 80 km south of Odessa. .
Internet users who reported the movements of troops or emergency services via social media networks were attacked by the spokesperson. "A rescue operation has begun, don't write where, who, and how!" He stated that the rescue operation was underway to protect soldiers, but did not specify the exact location of the strike.
NATO closed its Madrid summit on Thursday, promising its support for Ukraine. Joe Biden stated that the Alliance would stand by Ukraine, and that it will continue to support it for as long as necessary to prevent Russia from destroying it. The US president said that he didn't know when or how this would end, but added that he believed it wouldn't end with Ukraine's defeat.
Numerous NATO members have pledged new military assistance to Ukraine. The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised an extension of one million pounds (1.16 trillion euros) and Joe Biden another $800 million. Emmanuel Macron, French President, proposed the revision of Ukraine's military program. He stressed that the country must, now that it is entering a time of war, be able to produce stronger and faster certain types of equipment.
Moscow responded through the voice its Foreign Minister: "The Iron Curtain is actually already coming down," Sergei Lavrov said, referring to the Cold War image that was quickly lost after the fall of Berlin Wall in 1989. The Atlantic Alliance had just adopted a strategic roadmap, which now identifies Russia as "the most serious and direct threat to security of allies". This, while condemning the efforts of Moscow and Beijing together to "destabilize" the international order.
The Ukrainian front welcomed the withdrawal of Russian troops from Serpents’ Island, which they took in the early hours. This was a highly symbolic victory by Kyiv. Moscow claimed that it had withdrawn its troops as a gesture of goodwill, as the objectives were achieved. It also wanted to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea. This militarized island, located southwest of Odessa and facing the mouth the Danube, is the largest port in Ukraine where millions of tonnes of grain have been collected.
The Ukrainian military version is quite different. The Russians left Serpents Island because they were "unable to resist the fire of our artillery and missiles, as well as our air strikes". They said that the enemy fled in two speedboats, leaving an area where explosions can still be heard. . The Ukrainian military stated that the Russians had destroyed 'their' military equipment during their retreat and lost a helicopter at sea.
"Serpents Island" is a strategic point that changes the Black Sea situation [...].. However, this does not mean that the enemy will never return. However, this has already significantly limited the actions of the occupiers," said President Voldymyr Zilensky at the end of the evening.
However, the president acknowledged that the situation in Lyssychansk remained "extremely challenging", a city located in the industrial basin in Donbass, an area in eastern Ukraine where the majority of the fighting is concentrated. Lyssychansk, the last major city in the Lugansk province, is not yet under Russian control. Moscow plans to take full control of it.
