Three people have been killed and at least 13 injured in a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, Ukrainian forces have said. Air defences downed two Kalibr cruise missiles, but authorities said the attack still struck civilian infrastructure including a business centre, an educational institution, a residential complex, restaurants and shops. The warehouse of a retail chain was also hit in the attack, causing a fire to break out.
Three people have been killed and another three injured in an early morning Russian attack on Kramatorsk and Kostyantynivka in Donetsk, according to the regional governor. Suspilne, Ukraine’s state broadcaster, reports that at least five houses were destroyed and about 20 more were damaged in Kramatorsk, while two houses were destroyed and 55 were damaged in Kostyantynivka. The number of people killed due to the rocket attack on Kryvyi Rih on Tuesday has increased to 12. The city authority said a 67-year-old wounded man died in the hospital overnight.
Russian-installed administrators of Nova Kakhovka have accused Ukrainian forces of shelling a residential area in the city, injuring one person.
Sweden hopes to be able to determine who was behind the Nord Stream gas pipeline sabotage by the autumn, the prosecutor leading the country’s investigation told Swedish radio.
The Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, says he won’t hesitate to use Russian tactical nuclear weapons if faced with an act of aggression. Lukashenko’s comment contradicts earlier statements by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who has said that nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus would remain exclusively under the control of Moscow.
A former campaign leader for the jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison on Wednesday for “creating an extremist organisation”, Reuters reports, citing the rights group OVD-Info. Navalny supporters reacted with outrage to the sentence against Liliya Chanysheva.
A planned visit by the UN nuclear chief, Rafael Grossi, to Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has been delayed by “some hours”, a diplomatic source has told Reuters. “He’s waiting to be able to travel safely,” a senior Ukrainian government official told the news agency. On Tuesday, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog met President Volodomyr Zelenskiy.
Zelenskiy has praised Ukrainian troops in his nighttime address and singled out units operating near Bakhmut, saying “there is forward movement in various areas”.
Putin claimed Tuesday Ukrainian losses during the conflict are near “catastrophic” and that the counterattack had not been successful in any area. The Russian president made the claim during televised meetings with war correspondents and military bloggers. “This is a massive counteroffensive, using strategic reserves that were prepared for this task,” Putin said. “They lost over 160, we lost 54 tanks, and some of them are subject to restoration and repair.”
The US House of Representatives has voted unanimously on a resolution calling for Russia to immediately release imprisoned US journalist Evan Gershkovich.
Moscow has also flagged again that it may withdraw from the Black Sea grain deal, after Putin says he has been cheated by the west who have failed to deliver on a promise to help bring Russian agricultural goods to world markets.
Ukrainian forces have been confirmed to have liberated the village of Neskuchne on Tuesday after Reuters journalists were able to reach the area. Russia has yet to acknowledge any gains.
