On the 512th day of the Ukrainian war, the kamikaze missiles and drones fired by Russia caused “damage to the port infrastructure” in the Odessa region, to an administrative building and several residential buildings.. The result was one dead and four injured, including a child.
To these new victims of the invasion of Ukraine, we must add about twenty wounded (including children) in the Mikoláyiv region where Russian cruise missiles were directed against “ports, docks, homes and companies”, according to the Ukrainian Air Force.
Ukrainian air defenses “could not intercept all the missiles, in particular the Kh-22 and Onyx supersonics” that Russia also used in its third night attack on Odessa after Russia failed to extend the agreement for the export of grain through Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
The Odessa region has played a key role in the export of grains after the agreement between kyiv and Moscow. An agreement that expired on Monday and Russia has not revalidated that could lead to a global food crisis that causes the massive arrival of refugees to Western European countries that help Ukraine.
The European Union is studying the creation of a fund of 20,000 million euros in four years to continue supporting the Ukrainian army in its fight against the Russian invasion.
The European Union has sanctioned 18 individuals and five entities for violating human rights in Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
All the entities included in the list are Russian and, of the 18 individuals, 12 are related to the violation of human rights in that country, among them officials of the prison in which the opposition member Alexéi Navalni is imprisoned.
Also included was an official of the Russian Federal Security Service involved in the attempted assassination of Russian opposition member Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Likewise, it has sanctioned several officials of the Moscow City Council for having used facial recognition services to arrest people. In addition, a Russian Army commander was added to the list for attacks on the population in Ukraine
The Russian Prosecutor's Office has requested 20 years in prison against the opponent Alexéi Navalni, already imprisoned, tried for a month behind closed doors in a new case for “extremism”, his relatives announced this Thursday.
The 47-year-old anti-corruption activist, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence for “fraud”, could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison for this case.
Archenemy of President Vladimir Putin, Navalni affirms that all these processes are due to political reasons. Since the Russian military campaign in Ukraine began in February 2022, most of the opponents who did not flee the country have been jailed or are being prosecuted, mainly for having denounced the conflict.
Ana María, a six-year-old Ukrainian, lived for a year in the zone occupied by Russia. Her mother, Katerina Skopina, a lieutenant in a medical unit, had to entrust the girl to her paternal grandparents when she and her husband, a driver at a military hospital, were captured in May 2022 by Russian forces in the city of Mariupol.
But the grandparents support the occupiers and kept the little girl for a year in a town 60 km from Mariupol, in territory controlled by Moscow forces.. The girl went to a nursery where “there were brainwashing programs,” denounces her mother, who has lived in Ivano Frankové (west) since her release in December during a prisoner exchange.
“In a phone call he asked me who 'uncle Vova' (short for Vladimir) was and why he was the president of the whole world,” he told AFP.
“Since the beginning of the war in 2014, the number of minors who have fallen under the control of the occupier is about 1.5 million,” says Mikola Kuleba, a former child rights commissioner, who is trying to return them to Ukraine.
Founder of the NGO “Save Ukraine”, he affirms that they are victims of “brainwashing” and that many end up wanting to remain under the control of Moscow.
Like Russia, Ukraine will consider any ship sailing through the Black Sea to Russian ports or occupied territories as a potential “military ship” from Friday, following Moscow's similar decision on ships bound for Ukrainian ports.
“All ships navigating Black Sea waters in the direction of Russian seaports and Ukrainian seaports located on territory temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered by Ukraine as transporting military goods with all associated risks,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry warned in a statement.
The ministry also “banned” navigation in the northeastern Black Sea and Kerch Strait off the Crimean peninsula, a Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014.
This warning was issued after Russia reported on Wednesday that “all ships sailing in Black Sea waters bound for Ukrainian ports will be considered potentially military cargo carriers.”
The Council of the European Union (EU) has extended for six months, until January 31, 2024, the restrictive measures directed at specific sectors of the Russian economy, imposed by its aggression against Ukraine.
These sanctions, first introduced in 2014 in response to Russia's illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula and other “destabilizing” actions on Ukrainian soil, have been greatly expanded since February 2022 in response to Russia's unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine.
The Council – the EU institution in which the governments of the Twenty-seven are represented – detailed in a statement that these sanctions currently consist of a broad spectrum of sectoral measures. They include restrictions on trade, finance, technology and dual-use goods (civilian and military), industry, transport and luxury goods.
Russia has claimed that the nightly bombardment of the city of Odessa was another retaliation for the attack on the Crimean bridge on Monday, in an operation in which it also claimed to have punished the port town of Chernomorsk.
“Tonight the Armed Forces continued to launch retaliatory strikes with high-precision weapons from the sea and the air against factories and storage halls by unmanned boats in the Odessa and Ilyichevsk (former name of Chernomorsk) areas of the Odessa region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Defense spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said that Russian forces also destroyed “fuel infrastructure and ammunition depots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces” in the city of Mikolayiv.. “All the objectives were achieved,” he assured.
The Russian military claimed on Thursday to have attacked Ukrainian military sites in southern Ukraine overnight, the third consecutive overnight attack, claiming in particular to have destroyed production and storage sites for naval drones in Odessa.
“Russian armed forces continued their retaliatory air and sea-based precision weapons strikes against production and storage sites for unmanned ships in the Odessa region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.. “In addition, fuel infrastructure and ammunition depots near Mikolayiv were destroyed,” reports Afp.
The fire declared on Wednesday in a military camp in eastern Crimea, which forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people, was still active.
The frequency of the detonations, which could be those of ammunition reserves, “has decreased considerably,” local authorities indicated on Telegram, according to Afp.
kyiv has not claimed responsibility, but regularly attacks Russian garrisons or materiel reserves inside the lines, as far away as the Crimean peninsula.
Southern Ukraine experienced another “hellish night” following Russian attacks targeting the Black Sea port of Odessa, the third straight night of attacks since the expiration of a deal crucial to global food supplies.
At least two civilians were killed in these bombings in Odesa and Mikoláyiv, another city in southern Ukraine, according to local authorities, who released impressive images showing buildings on fire and destroyed facades.
In Odessa, the body of a janitor was “found under the rubble” after an attack that destroyed “an administrative building” in the center and damaged several residential buildings, according to the regional governor, Oleg Kiper.. I hope that the ministers support it,” he added, not wanting to specify a figure before it was examined by the Twenty-seven.
A diplomatic source told Afp that the planned military aid was 5,000 million euros a year for four years (from 2024 to 2027), that is, 20,000 million in total, although the discussions were still in their “early stages”.
The Ukrainian military authorities denounced today that the consulate general of the People's Republic of China in the port city of Odessa suffered damage as a result of the Russian attack with missiles and drones launched last morning against that Black Sea port.
“As a result of Russia's night attack, the building of the General Consulate of the People's Republic of China in Odessa was damaged,” the representative of the Military Administration of the Odessa region, Oleg Kiper, wrote in his Telegram account, reports Efe.
Kiper's message is accompanied by a photo of a historic building with the coat of arms of China on the frontispiece and another image of a damaged window that would be from the same building.
“The attacker deliberately targeted the port infrastructure, administrative and residential buildings, and also the consulate of the People's Republic of China suffered damage,” Kiper added.
“This suggests that the enemy does not pay attention to anything,” stressed the Ukrainian military spokesman.
Since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine has tried through diplomatic means to prevent China from helping Russia militarily.. Russian shells also started a fire at the premises of an Odesa company.
More images of the Russian attack tonight in Mikolaiv
Transfer of a wound.
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire.
Fire extinguishing work.
Wagner's boss, Yevgueni Prigozhin, did not rule out that at some point his group of mercenaries would have to return to Ukraine, where the war due to the Russian invasion continues, according to a voice attributed to Prigozhin in a video broadcast by the Telegram channel Razgruzka Wagnera, close to the group of mercenaries, reports Efe.
“We may go back to the special military campaign the moment we are sure that they will not force us to embarrass ourselves and our experience,” he said.
The arrival of the Russian mercenaries in Belarus occurs under an agreement that put an end to their armed rebellion on June 24 in Russia, with the mediation of the Belarusian president, Alexandr Lukashenko.
Under the pact, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Wagner's militiamen three options: return home, go to Belarus or sign a contract with the Defense Ministry or other security agencies to report to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.
As part of the deal, the Kremlin promised the mercenaries and their boss that they would not be prosecuted.
The head of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgueni Prigozhin, welcomed on Wednesday those who have moved to Belarus and assured them that the paramilitaries will go to Africa afterwards.
“The decision has been made that we are here, in Belarus, for a while,” says a voice attributed to Prigozhin in a video broadcast by the Telegram channel Razgruzka Wagnera, close to the group of mercenaries, reports Efe.
During that time, added Prigozhin, who also distributed the video on his own Telegram channel, Wagner will make the Belarusian army the “second in the world”.
“And if it is necessary and necessary, we will come out in his defense,” he added.. Afterwards, the mercenary group will raise its level of preparation and embark on a “new path”, heading towards Africa, he said.
According to the latest data from the Belarusian Gayun research team, more than 2,500 Wagner members have relocated to Belarus so far.
Presidential adviser Mikhail Podoliak has said Ukraine needs “an additional 200 to 300 armored vehicles, mainly tanks”, “60 to 80 F-16 jets” and “an additional 5 to 10 Patriot air defense systems” or its French equivalent, SAMP/T, to break through Russian lines, Afp reports.
On Wednesday, the Pentagon announced a new $1.3 billion military aid plan, which includes four air defense systems, to “repel Russian aggression in the medium and long term.”
As a consequence of the blockade by Russia since Monday of the safe “corridor” of the Black Sea that had been negotiated to export millions of tons of Ukrainian grain by cargo, wheat closed on Wednesday at 253.75 euros per ton in the European market, with a rise of more than 8%, reports Afp.
In the space of a year, the agreement had allowed almost 33 million tons of grain to be exported from Ukrainian ports, helping to stabilize world food prices and avoid the risk of shortages.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andri Yermak, denounces on Twitter that Russia wants to “destroy the food supply chain” to the countries of the “Global South” after the attack this morning on Mykolaiv and Odessa, the third consecutive attack on this southern Ukrainian city.
Russia warned on Wednesday that it will consider ships bound for Ukraine as possible military targets, after withdrawing from the agreement guaranteeing the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.. The US says Russia is considering attacking civilian ships in the Black Sea to blame Ukraine
“A total of 18 people were injured, 9 of them were hospitalized, including 5 children, 2 people were rescued from the rubble. It's a miracle that he survived.”
A Ukrainian drone strike in northwestern Crimea damaged several administrative buildings and killed a teenage girl, the Moscow-appointed governor of the 2014-annexed peninsula said Thursday.
“As a result of the attack by an unmanned aerial vehicle, four administrative buildings were damaged,” Sergei Aksionov said on Telegram, reports Afp.
“Unfortunately, it was not without victims: a teenager died,” he lamented.
“All the necessary support will be provided to the family,” he added without giving further details of the attack.
damage to a residential building.
Emergency services work in a destroyed building
Russia has attacked the Ukrainian city of Odessa for the third consecutive night, causing damage to buildings and injuring at least 4 people, the spokeswoman for the southern command of the Ukrainian army, Natalia Gumeniuk, reported today on the national television news service, Efe reports.
The attack hit an area in the center of the city and destroyed an administrative building, Gumeniuk said, adding that the shock wave caused damage to other civilian buildings in the area..
Russia also attacked the Mikolayiv Oblast, east of the Odesa region, last night, damaging homes. Eighteen people have been injured in Mykolayiv as a result of the attack, nine of whom have been hospitalized.
According to the Odessa Region Military Administration, last night's Russian attack caused a 300-square-meter fire in the city of Odessa that firefighters are working to put out.
The Ukrainian army has advanced that the attack on Odesa has been perpetrated with missiles of different types. The Ukrainian Air Force will provide more details in this regard in the morning.
About twenty people were injured early Thursday by Russian attacks on the cities of Odesa and Mikolayiv, on the Black Sea coast in southern Ukraine, local authorities reported.
It is the third consecutive night of attacks in that coastal area after Moscow's withdrawal from the agreement that allowed the export of Ukrainian cereals through the Black Sea and which expired on Monday.
“The Russians hit the center of the city. A parking lot and a three-story residential building are on fire,” the governor of the Mykolaiv region, Vitaliy Kim, said on Telegram, reports Afp.
“18 people in total are injured, nine of them are hospitalized, including five children. Two people were pulled from the rubble,” he added.
The mayor of this port city, Oleksandr Senkevich, said that “at least five residential buildings” were damaged by the attack.
Previously, the Ukrainian armed forces activated the anti-aircraft alert in these two cities, separated by about 100 kilometers, as well as in other regions.
The air forces said they had detected the launch of “missiles” towards the Odessa region, which had played a key role in the export of grains during the life of the pact between Kiev and Moscow.
Odessa Governor Oleg Kiper indicated on Telegram that the port city had been attacked.. “As a result of the Russian attack, there is destruction in the center of Odessa,” he said.
Authorities were informed of “two hospitalized victims,” he added without elaborating.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned Russian attacks on military infrastructure near the Black Sea port cities of Mikolaiv and Odessa in southern Ukraine.
“These attacks are having an impact far beyond Ukraine.. We already see the negative effect on global wheat and maize prices, which hurts everyone, but especially vulnerable people in the global south,” Guterres said in a statement from his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.