Kyiv (Ukraine): A Russian missile struck a residential tower and a recreation center in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa on Friday, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens. One of the missiles struck a nine-story residential tower in Serzhivka, killing at least 16 and injuring 38, The New York Times reported, citing Ukraine’s state emergency service. And then another missile hit an entertainment center, killing five people and injuring one, emergency officials said on Telegram. According to the Ukrainian Regional Military Administration, the residential tower, which is home to 100 people, has been destroyed on one side. Officials said they were still walking through the rubble of the recreation center.
The missiles hit the Marakremlin spokesman, Dmitry S. Peskov again denied on Friday that Russia was targeting any civilian infrastructure. “I want to remind you again of the words of the President of the Russian Federation and the Commander-in-Chief that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are not working against civilian targets during a special military operation,” Peskov said. by The New York Times. He further said that Russia’s targets include ammunition and weapons depots, plants manufacturing and repairing military equipment, and places where “foreign mercenaries” and “nationalist elements” are based and trained.
The attack came as Russian troops withdrew from Snake Island after months of occupying a strategic Black Sea outpost. Snake Island, a small piece of land about 25 miles off the southeast coast of Ukraine, sits on a major shipping lane and is an important access point to Odessa’s major port. As The Washington Post reports, “Ukrainian artillery, rockets and air strikes pushed the Russians out of Snake Island this month,” Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny wrote in a Facebook post. He also shared a video of the missiles hitting the island and claimed it had pulled out Russian anti-aircraft systems a week ago. However, Russia denied that its systems had been destroyed.
“Russian forces unsuccessfully tried to stop the attack with fighter jets at night off the coast of the Odessa region,” the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command said on Facebook. As Ukrainian military operations continued, the remaining Russian troops on the island “quickly evacuated” the garrison on two speedboats, the statement said. Taking to Telegram, Andrey Yermak, the head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said, “On Snake [Island] There are no more Russians,” the report said, adding that the Ukrainian Armed Forces conducted a marvelous operation and drove them out. He also thanked foreign allies for the weapons that aided the fight.
On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, forcing some 14 million Ukrainians to flee their homes, according to United Nations (UN) estimates and most of those displaced are women and children. The conflict has left 15.7 million Ukrainians stranded and in need of humanitarian aid, some of them lacking access to water and electricity. Three million children in Ukraine and more than 2.2 million in refugee countries now need humanitarian aid. Nearly two out of every three children have been displaced by continuous rocket attacks and fighting between the two countries.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Zee News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)