Illustrative photo: Odesa on the Black Sea in the early morning on Feb. 24, 2024. (Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Russian forces hit a residential area in Odesa with drones overnight on April 23, wounding seven people, including two children, Ukraine's Southern Defense Forces reported.
According to the military, a fire broke out at the site of the attack. At least 14 apartments were damaged in the city following the strike.
First responders have been dispatched to the site and reportedly rescued 34 people, including three children. No details were provided on the extent of the victims' injuries.
Air Force earlier warned about drone threat for Ukraine's Odesa and Kyiv oblasts.
Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.
Drone debris hit a pipeline at a terminal in Volna, a village in the region's Temryuk district, the Krasnodar Krai Emergency Headquarters said. A fire broke out as a result of the attack.
The talks focused on a revised 20-point plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine, a framework for security guarantees, and economic development, according to Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation.
"If Putin says no, we need to dramatically change the game, including giving Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to hit the drone and missile factories that exist in Russia. I would go all in if Putin says no," U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said on Dec. 21.
On Dec. 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin lashed out at Western leaders during an annual meeting with his defense ministry, calling European leaders "piglets" and declaring that the goals of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine would be met "unconditionally."
Ukrainian and Russian delegations have rushed to Miami to take part in yet another round of talks with the U.S. representatives in what some see as an American effort to end Russia's war against Ukraine.
According to preliminary information, on Dec. 18, Russian forces illegally detained about 50 civilians — residents of the village of Hrabovske — holding them without access to communication or adequate conditions. On Dec. 20, they were forcibly taken to Russia.
Russian forces launched one Iskander-M ballistic missile from Russia’s Rostov Oblast, along with 97 drones from Russia’s Millerovo, Kursk, Orel, Primorsko-Akhtarsk, and Russian-occupied Crimea overnight, according to Ukraine's Air Force.
Atesh operatives set fire at a railway hub in Bataysk, in Russia's Rostov Oblast, which Russian troops use to supply their forces in occupied parts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk oblasts, as well as Crimea.
"No matter how difficult it is for us, we need to protect as many people as possible, protect Odesa and our other regions as much as possible," President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the planned replacement.
"I believe such strength exists in the United States and in President Trump. And I believe we should not look for an alternative to the United States, because all alternatives are uncertain as to whether they can end the war)," President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters.
Liberated in 2022, Kherson is still under daily attack from Russian forces across the Dnipro River. The Kyiv Independent’s Francis Farrell and Olena Zashko report from a city living under anti-drone nets and constant surveillance, showing how everyday life, from hospitals and schools to aid deliveries and cultural events, continues under threat, and why residents refuse to leave.
Kateryna Denisova
