Russian missiles strike Odesa region, 21 killed, 38 in hospital

Ukrainian Authorities Interpret Attack As Payback For Russian Troops Being Forced Out Of Snake Island

Kyiv: Russian missile attacks on residential areas killed at least 21 people early on Friday near the Ukrainian port of Odesa, authorities reported, a day after the withdrawal of Moscow’s forces from an island in the Black Sea seemed to ease the threat to the city. Video of the attack before daybreak showed the charred ruins of buildings in the small town of Serhiivka, about 50km from Odesa. The Ukrainian president’s office said three Kh-22 missiles fired by warplanes struck an apartment building and a campsite.

Ukrainian authorities interpreted the attack as payback for Russian troops being forced out of Snake Island a day earlier, though Moscow portrayed their departure as a “goodwill gesture” to help unblock exports of grain from the country. Russian forces took control of the island in the opening days of the war in the apparent hope of using it as a staging ground for an assault on Odesa, Ukraine’s biggest port and the headquarters of its navy. Ukraine President Zelensky said that although the pullout did not guarantee the Black Sea region’s safety, it would “significantly limit” Russian activities there. “Step by step, we will push (Russia) out of our sea, our land, our sky,” he said in his nightly address.