Russian-Ukrainian War: Missile fire kills 17 in Odessa; Zelenskiy hails ‘meaningful’ Snake Island victory – live | world news

Ukrainian forces repelled Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea island off the southern coast near the city of Odessa.

Russia described the removal of Snake Island off the port city of Odessa as a “goodwill gesture”. The Ukrainian military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missiles.

Ukraine’s victory will weaken any plans Russia may have for a future ground attack on this stretch of coastline, Ukrainian officials said.

Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said Ukrainian-made Bohdana howitzers played an important role in the diversion of Russian forces from Snake Island, and he thanked foreign partners for their support.

“KABOM!” Tweeted Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration. “No more Russian troops on Snake Island.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had completed its assigned tasks and was tactically withdrawing to allow grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. , the Russian Federation has decided to leave its positions on the island of Zmiinyi,” the Defense Ministry said.

Yermak described Russia’s goodwill claim as a lie.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier hailed a victory over Russian forces occupying Snake Islanda strategic island in the Black Sea off the southern coast near the city of Odessa.

He said Zmiinyi Island – or Snake Island – was “free” after Russian forces withdrew from the strategic post.

Zmiinyi Island is a strategic point, and it significantly changes the situation in the Black Sea. It still does not guarantee security, it still does not guarantee that the enemy will not return. But it already considerably limits the actions of the occupants. Step by step, we will drive them out of our sea, our land and our sky.

Snake Island rose to fame when Russia first captured it in February. A Ukrainian soldier stationed on the island told an attacking Russian warship “fuck you”, which has become one of the most popular Ukrainian resistance slogans since the invasion.

At least 17 people were killed on Friday after two Russian missiles hit a multi-storey building and a recreation center in the southern port city of Odessa, Ukrainian officials said.

Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) said as of 6am on Friday, 14 people had been killed and 30 injured – including three children – in the attack on the building.

Three people – including a child – were killed in a separate attack on a leisure centre, and one injured, the SES said.

The Guardian could not immediately confirm details of the incident.

Ukrainian MP Roman Hryshchuk shared a video allegedly of the attack.

“Imagine: you wake up and realize there is no way out. People were trapped in their own apartments after Russian missiles hit a residential skyscraper in Odessa,” he wrote alongside the video.

Hello, it’s Samantha Lock back with you as we unpack all the latest news from Ukraine this morning.

Major overnight developments include a victory at Snake Island where Ukrainian forces pushed Russian troops back from the strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast near the city of Odessa.

Russia described the removal from Snake Island as a “goodwill gesture”. The Ukrainian military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats after a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missiles.

And in the early hours of this morning, two Russian missiles reportedly hit a multi-storey building and a recreation center in Odessa.

At least 17 people were killed, Ukrainian officials said.

Here are all the last lines from 8am in Kyiv.

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says a new ‘iron curtain’ is falling between Russia and the West, and that Moscow would no longer trust Washington and Brussels “from now on”. The process “has begun,” Lavrov said after talks with his Belarusian counterpart. “As far as an Iron Curtain goes, essentially it’s already coming down.”

• Ukrainian forces say they repelled Russian forces from Snake Island, a strategic Black Sea outpost off the southern coast. Russia described the island’s withdrawal as a “goodwill gesture”. The Ukrainian military said the Russians fled the island in two speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missiles.

• A Russian missile struck a multi-storey building in Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa early Friday, killing at least 10 people.said a local official.
  “The death toll as a result of a strike against a multi-storey building has now risen to 10,” Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odessa regional administration, said on his Telegram channel.

• The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Lysychansk is ‘extremely difficult’ as continued shelling by Russian forces makes it impossible to evacuate civilians, officials say. “There is a lot of bombardment and in several directions. The Russian army is approaching from different directions towards Lysychansk,” Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Haidai said, adding that Russian forces remained on the outskirts of the city, where there was currently no street fighting.

• A freighter has left the Russian-occupied Ukrainian port of Berdyansk for the first time since the city was seized by Moscow troops, according to a pro-Russian official. Yevgeny Balitsky, the head of the pro-Russian administration, was quoted by Russian state media as saying the first cargo ship to leave Berdyansk was carrying 7,000 tonnes of grain to ‘friendly countries’, without saying what cargo the ship was carrying.

• Turkey’s president has warned that Ankara could still block Finland and Sweden from joining NATO if the two countries do not fully meet his expectations. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that if the two Nordic countries renege on their promises, including to extradite terrorist suspects with links to banned Kurdish groups, the Turkish parliament may refuse to ratify the agreement reached on Tuesday.

• The Estonian and Latvian defense ministers signed a letter of intent on Thursday at the NATO summit in Madrid for the joint purchase of medium-range anti-aircraft systems.“Russia’s aggression in Ukraine clearly shows the need for air defense systems,” Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said in a statement.

• French President Emmanuel Macron said France will deliver six César howitzers and one “significant number” of armored vehicles to Ukraine. He added that the NATO allies meeting in Madrid had “decided unanimously” to strengthen humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.

• The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had summoned British Ambassador to Moscow Deborah Bronnert to protest Boris Johnson’s “offensive” remarks. regarding Russia and Vladimir Putin. A strong protest was expressed to the ambassador against “the frankly rude statements of the British leadership concerning Russia, its leader and official representatives of the authorities, as well as the Russian people”, he said in a statement.

• Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said her country was not blocking Russia’s access to Svalbard. On Wednesday, Russia accused Norway of disrupting the delivery of essential supplies and threatened retaliation. Huitfeldt said Norway was not blocking Russia’s access to the Arctic Archipelago, only applying international sanctions, and that Russia had other means to get to its colonies.

• Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived in Moscowwhere he will urge Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire and seek ways to allow the export of grain from Ukraine. Widodo also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday in a visit he called “a manifestation of the Indonesian people’s concern for the situation in Ukraine”.