Ukraine war: '17 dead' as Russian missiles hit flats in Odesa region, say Ukrainian officials
Ukrainian authorities say a Russian missile has struck a nine-story block of flats in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, killing at least 14 people and wounding 30.
The missile struck the building in the town of Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi — which lies about 80 kilometres south of the city of Odesa — at about 0100 local time (midnight CET) on Friday, the Ukrainian emergencies ministry said. It also caused a fire in an attached store building.
A statement that "14 people are dead and 30 injured, including three children" and that rescue operations, complicated by the fire, were continuing.
Another missile hit two other buildings nearby, killing "three people, including a child", rescue workers said.
Referring to the first missile, Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional administration, told Ukrainian state television that some people remained buried under the rubble after a section of the apartment building collapsed.
The missile was fired from a "strategic aircraft" in the Black Sea, according to Kyiv. An earlier communiqué put the number of dead at 10.
Bratchuk also referred to a second missile hitting a resort facility, wounding several people.
Details given by the Ukrainian officials could not immediately be independently confirmed.
The attacks come a day after Russia pulled its troops out of the strategically important Snake Island in the Black Sea in what the defence ministry in Moscow described as a "goodwill gesture" aimed at easing grain exports from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military, which had been bombarding Russia's forces on the island relentlessly, said the Russians were forced out, fleeing in two speedboats.
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