Rescue workers work at the scene of a missile strike at a location given as Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, Odesa region, Ukraine, in this handout image released July 1, 2022. State Emergency Services of Ukraine/Handout via REUTERS
KYIV 鈥� Russian missiles hit an apartment building and a resort near Ukraine鈥檚 Black Sea port of Odesa on Friday, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens, Ukrainian authorities said.
Thousands of civilians have been killed since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what Ukraine says is an unprovoked war of aggression. Russia denies targeting civilians and says it hits only military infrastructure in what it calls a 鈥渟pecial operation鈥� to root out dangerous nationalists.
With its ground forces concentrated in Ukraine鈥檚 eastern industrial region of Donbas, Russia has more than doubled the number of missile strikes around the country in the past two weeks, using inaccurate Soviet-era missiles for more than half of the attacks, according to a Ukrainian brigadier general.
One missile struck a nine-story building in the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi at about 1 a.m. (2200 GMT Thursday), the Ukrainian emergencies ministry said. It also caused a fire in an attached store building.
Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odesa regional administration, told Ukrainian state television a rescue operation was under way as some people were buried under rubble after part of the building collapsed.
Another missile hit a resort facility, Bratchuk said, killing at least three people including a child and wounding one person.
Reuters could not independently confirm details of the incident.
The attack came after Russia on Thursday said it had decided to withdraw from Snake Island as a 鈥済esture of goodwill鈥� to show it was not obstructing U.N. attempts to open a humanitarian corridor allowing grain to be shipped from Ukraine.
Ukraine said it had driven Russian forces off the Black Sea outcrop after an artillery and missile assault, with President Volodymyr Zelensky hailing a strategic win.
鈥淚t does not yet guarantee security. It does not yet ensure that the enemy will not come back,鈥� he said in his nightly video address. 鈥淏ut this significantly limits the actions of the occupiers. Step by step, we will push them back from our sea, our land and our sky.鈥�
In contrast, however, Ukrainian forces were desperately hanging on in the city of Lysychansk.
Russian artillery shelled from different directions while the Russian army approached from several sides, regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Ukrainian television.
鈥淭he superiority in fire power of the occupiers is still very much in evidence,鈥� Zelensky said. 鈥淭hey have simply brought in all their reserves to hit us.鈥�
Russian forces have been trying to encircle Lysychansk since they captured Severodonetsk, on the opposite side of the Siverskyi Donets River, last week after weeks of heavy fighting.
In Severodonetsk, residents have emerged from basements and are sifting through the rubble of their ruined city.
鈥淎lmost all the city infrastructure is destroyed. We are living without gas, electricity, and water since May,鈥� Sergei Oleinik, a 65-year-old resident told Reuters. 鈥淲e are glad that this ended, and soon maybe reconstruction will start, and we will be back to more or less normal life.鈥�
Support for Ukraine
Despite yielding ground and taking punishing losses in the eastern Donbas in recent weeks, Ukraine hopes to inflict enough damage to exhaust Russia鈥檚 advancing army.
Ukraine鈥檚 Western allies have been sending weapons and the government was given another boost with the United States saying it would provide a further $800 million in weapons and military aid.
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking after a NATO summit in Madrid, said America and its allies were united in standing up to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how it鈥檚 going to end, but it will not end with Russia defeating Ukraine,鈥� Biden told a news conference. 鈥淲e are going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes.鈥�
As well as providing weapons, the United States and allies have imposed punishing sanctions on Russia and many Western companies have withdrawn from it or are planning to.
Russia has taken control of some assets and on Thursday moved to create a new firm to take charge of the giant Sakhalin-2 gas and oil project in its far east, knocking shares in the Japanese companies that own part of the project.
Smoke and fire
Ukrainian forces in the south district of the Joint command of the Ukrainian armed forces killed 35 Russian servicemen and put out of action two tanks and four armoured vehicles, the Ukrainian military said in a statement on Facebook.
鈥淭he Ukrainian armed forces are not only holding defence lines but also engaging in successful operations aimed at liberating occupied towns in Kherson region from the invaders,鈥� Kriviy Rih regional Governor Oleksandr Vilkul said on Telegram, adding Ukrainian troops had taken back the town of Potyomkin.
Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield claims.
Snake Island was retaken by Ukraine after weeks in which momentum in the four-month-old conflict appeared to be shifting in favour of Russia.
Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov said Ukrainian forces had not occupied the island but would do so.
Russia denies blocking Ukraine鈥檚 ports and blames food shortages on Western sanctions it says limit its exports.
Speaking in Moscow on Thursday, Indonesian leader Joko Widodo offered to be a diplomatic bridge between Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, and said he hoped global food and fertiliser supply lines could be reinstated.
鈥淚 really appreciate President Putin who said earlier that he will provide a security guarantee for food and fertilizer supplies from both Russia and Ukraine. This is good news,鈥� he said.
RELATED STORY:
Missiles pound Ukraine鈥檚 Odesa after Russia marks World War II victory