New Russian strikes on the port city of Odessa | War in Ukraine

According to the Ukrainian army, a shopping center and a warehouse were particularly affected by this attack, which left one dead and five injured in addition to causing heavy damage.

According to Odessa Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov, the affected area had no military infrastructure.

The toll could have been worse had it not been for the curfew in effect in the city, which had around one million inhabitants before Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24.

The Ukrainian army says the seven missiles launched in total on Monday by the Russian air force dated from Soviet times and were therefore less accurate than more contemporary munitions.

A Ukrainian think tank, the Center for Defense Strategies, however, maintains that at least one Kinjal hypersonic missile, the most advanced in its arsenal, was used.

Over the past few days, Russian Defense has confirmed that it has struck Odessa airport in order to destroy, it says, weapons delivered to Ukraine by Western countries.

Earlier Monday, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, passing through Odessa to meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Chmygal, was forced to take shelter due to a Russian strike.

He took the opportunity to point out that the blockade of the port by the Russian navy prevents Ukraine from exporting cereals to countries which are in great need of it.

I saw silos full of grain, wheat, corn ready to be exported , he described on Twitter. This essential food is blocked because of the Russian war and the blockade of the Black Sea ports.

This situation leads to dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries he added, calling for a global response coordinate.

kyiv seeks to evacuate wounded soldiers entrenched in Azovstal

The Ukrainian authorities also continue to plead for other people to be evacuated from the Azovstal metallurgical complex, the last stronghold of the resistance in the port city of Mariupol, almost completely under Russian control.

There are serious injuries that require urgent evacuationUkrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told AFP on Tuesday, adding that the situation is getting worse every day in the factory in the port city.

She also denied reports from city officials suggesting, if not claiming, that civilians are still in the complex’s bomb shelters.

During a press conference in the morning, the mayor of Mariupol, Vadim Boïtchenko, notably refused to say that he was 100% sure that all civilians from Azovstal have been evacuated, stressing that there not possible to verify it as long as there is no lasting ceasefire in place. In addition to the fighters, at least 100 civilians are still in the shelters of the Azovstal factoryfor his part supported Petro Andriouchchenko, a collaborator of the mayor, in a message broadcast on Telegram.

It’s not trueretorted Ms. Vereshchuk, indicating that the chief of the Azov regiment entrenched at the steelworks had officially declared Ukrainian government officials and a UN representative that no civilians, women, children or elderly people remained in Azovstal.

According to her, the Ukrainian authorities working now on the possibility of evacuating wounded soldiers, medical personnel and military chaplains from the steel plant, in collaboration with international organizations and the government of Turkey.

Medical personnel want to evacuate with the injured, because they have to be accompanied in the event of the opening of a humanitarian corridor from the steelworks,” explained the Deputy Prime Minister. This operation could last at least a week given the number of wounded who must be carried on stretchers.

According to Ms Vereshchuk, the Turkey works very closely with Kyiv and a really want to help specifying that such an evacuation could be done by sea with a Turkish boat equipped with a military hospital.

We want it very much and the Turks are ready for itbut Kyiv is seeking to obtain guarantees that Russia will not start shooting during the evacuation, noted Ms. Vereshchuk. You need absolute guarantees in writing, that’s what we’re trying to getshe said.

More details to come.