Russian missiles struck a residential building near Odesa early on Friday, Ukrainian officials said, killing at least 18 people in the country’s biggest port, as Moscow ramped up attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
The latest missile strikes came a day after Ukraine said its bombardment had forced Russian troops to abandon Snake Island, a strategic outpost in the Black Sea close to Odesa that had been seized by Russia early in the war. Moscow said its withdrawal had been a “gesture of goodwill”.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office, said 18 people had been killed in the strikes near Odesa, including two children. Another 30 were wounded.