Ukraine-Russia struggle: Putin’s troops bombard Odesa in three-hour drone assault

Russia focused the Odesa area with a sustained three-and-a-half hour drone assault within the early hours of this morning, Ukraine says, hitting some key port infrastructure.

Ukraine stated its air defences succeeded in capturing down 22 of the 25 Iranian-made kamikaze Shahed drones fired by Russia.

At least two civilians have been injured within the assault, in line with Ukraine’s South Military Command.

The bombardment focused “civil infrastructure of the Danube [River]”, it stated.

Some Ukrainian media reported explosions on the port in Reni, one of many two main Ukrainian services on the river, although this was not instantly confirmed by the authorities.

The Danube is now Ukraine’s most important route for essential grain exports, after Russia pulled out of a UN deal that had allowed Kyiv to ship grain through the Black Sea.

Ukraine is the world’s largest wheat producer and its failure to export grain has been one of many key drivers of worldwide meals inflation since Russia’s invasion.

Long-range strikes by drone and missile and a raid on territory in occupied Crimea that took Russian forces abruptly – all a part of Kyiv’s recent push in the direction of the peninsula that could be a image of Vladimir Putin‘s territorial ambitions.

Perhaps most significant of all is the capture of the key village of Robotyne, about three hours drive east of Crimea. Gaining that foothold will help Ukraine build a foundation to punch through to the coastline of the Sea of Azov.

Kyiv has been stepping up drone attacks on Crimea as it looks to break key supply lines from the Russian-occupied peninsula, writes Askold Krushelnycky in Ukraine:

Drone strikes on Russian soil are solely set to extend as Ukraine brings Moscow’s invasion home, a senior Kyiv official has stated.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to president Volodymyr Zelensky stated that it has elevated strikes on Russian-occupied areas and would additionally ramp up assaults inside Russia itself. Kyiv doesn’t typically instantly declare assaults exterior of Ukraine, with Mr Podolyak saying such strikes can be carried out by “agents” or “partisans”.

“As for Russia … there is an increasing number of attacks by unidentified drones launched from the territory of the Russian Federation, and the number of these attacks will increase,” Mr Podolyak instructed Reuters. “This is the stage of the war when hostilities are gradually being transferred to the territory of the Russian Federation.”

A Russian air strike on a excessive rise residential building has killed a married couple, in line with the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s workplace.

Ukraine has opened a struggle crimes investigation into the assault on Vuhledar, which left the couple’s 19-year-old daughter and one other resident, 53, injured.

Explosions destroyed the doorway to the building and broken home windows and balconies.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an indirect reference to authorized proceedings in opposition to the Ukrainian business magnate, Ihor Kolomoisky, thanked regulation enforcement our bodies yesterday for his or her resolve in bringing long-running instances to justice.

“I thank Ukrainian regulation enforcement officers for his or her resolve in bringing to a simply final result every one of many instances which were hindered for many years,” Mr Zelensky stated in his nightly video tackle.

A Ukrainian courtroom ordered tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky to be held in custody for 2 months on suspicion of fraud and money laundering yesterday, a putting transfer in opposition to one of many nation’s strongest businessmen.

The detention of Mr Kolomoisky, who’s beneath US sanctions and is a one-time supporter of president Volodymyr Zelensky whose election he backed in 2019, comes as Kyiv is making an attempt to sign progress throughout a wartime crackdown on corruption.

Defence legal professionals stated Mr Kolomoisky would enchantment the ruling, questioning its legality, however that he wouldn’t submit bail of almost $14 million so as to safe his launch, broadcaster Radio Liberty reported.

After a listening to at a district courtroom in Kyiv late yesterday, Mr Kolomoisky, one in every of Ukraine’s richest males, was proven being led away in a blue tracksuit jacket in tv footage. He couldn’t be reached for remark.

The Security Service of Ukraine introduced the case in opposition to Mr Kolomoisky yesterday morning, publishing images on Telegram Messenger displaying him being served paperwork by safety officers and signing them.

“It was established that in 2013-2020, Ihor Kolomoisky legalised greater than half a billion hryvnias ($14 million) by withdrawing them overseas and utilizing the infrastructure of banks beneath (his) management,” the company stated in a press release.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky stated yesterday that two extra ships had handed by means of a “short-term” Black Sea delivery hall established since Russia withdrew from a UN-backed grain export deal in July.

“Two ships have efficiently handed by means of our short-term ‘grain hall’,” Mr Zelensky posted on X, beforehand often known as Twitter.

The president didn’t establish the vessels concerned or say once they had accomplished their passage. Officials on Friday stated two vessels had cleared the hall – bringing to 4 the quantity which have used it.

Mr Zelensky stated Ukraine was “restoring true freedom of navigation within the Black Sea. Freedom requires dedication.”

On Friday, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister stated two vessels had handed by means of the hall from the port of Pivdenny: one flagged in Liberia, the opposite within the Marshall Islands. The vessels have been carrying pig iron and iron focus.

Russia has blockaded Ukrainian ports because it invaded its neighbour in February 2022, and threatened to deal with all vessels as potential army targets after pulling out of the UN-backed deal.

Traffic on the principle bridge linking the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula resumed after a short suspension early as we speak, the Russian-installed operator of the bridge stated on the Telegram messaging app.

The administration didn’t disclose the explanation for the suspension. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 in a transfer condemned by many Western governments as unlawful.

The Crimean Bridge has been a goal of elevated air and sea drone assaults in recent months.

The Wagner founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is confirmed to have died in a airplane crash – a flip of occasions that seems to depart his Wagner Group fighters rudderless and going through a extremely unsure future.

Prigozhin, a convict, turned connoisseur restaurateur, turned warlord, was onboard an Embraer personal jet flying from Moscow to St Petersburg when it got here down over the Tver area, killing everybody on board. Two different senior commanders, Dmitry Utkin and Valery Chekalov, have been additionally on the passenger listing.

The crash got here precisely two months after Prigozhin led his males in a mutiny that gravely embarrassed Russian president Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin, his fighters leaving their posts in southern Ukraine to occupy the Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don earlier than marching on Moscow alongside the M4 freeway.

Drone strikes on Russian soil are solely set to extend as Ukraine brings Moscow’s invasion home, a senior Kyiv official has stated.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that it has elevated strikes on Russian-occupied areas and would additionally ramp up assaults inside Russia itself. Kyiv doesn’t typically instantly declare assaults exterior of Ukraine, with Mr Podolyak saying such strikes can be carried out by “agents” or “partisans”.

“As for Russia … there is an increasing number of attacks by unidentified drones launched from the territory of the Russian Federation, and the number of these attacks will increase,” Mr Podolyak instructed Reuters. “This is the stage of the war when hostilities are gradually being transferred to the territory of the Russian Federation.”