KYIV, Ukraine — Early Friday, including two children in a Russian missile attack on a residential area in a coastal town near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa. The day after Russian troops withdrew from the strategic Black Sea island, officials reported that at least 18 people had died.
A pre-dawn attack video showed the remains of a burnt building in the small town of Serhiivka, about 31 miles southwest of Odesa. According to Ukrainian news reports, missiles struck high-rise apartments and resort areas.
"The terrorist country is killing our people. They will fight civilians in response to their defeat on the battlefield," he said.
Kirill Timoshenko, Deputy Director of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said 18 people, including two children, had died. Serhiy Bratuk, a spokesman for the Odesa local government, said another 30 people were injured in the Telegram messaging app.
Of the 18 victims, 16 died in a strike on the apartment building, Ukrainian emergency officials said.
The bombing was expected to mitigate the threat to nearby Odesa following the withdrawal of Russian troops from Snake Islandon Thursday. It was a move. The island sits along a busy transport lane. Russia dominated it on the first day of the war with the clear hope of using it as the stage for an attack on Odesa.
Kremlin describes the withdrawal from Snake Island as a "goodwill gesture" Did. Ukrainian troops claimed that the artillery and missile bullets fled the Russians in two small speedboats. The exact number of troops to withdraw has not been disclosed.
The Russian bombing killed a number of civilians early in the war, including hospitals and the theater in the port city of Mariupol . Mass casualties appeared to be more rare as Moscow concentrated on occupying the entire Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
However, officials said Friday that at least 19 people were killed and 62 more were injured in a missile attack at a shopping mall in Clementuk, a city in central Ukraine, on Monday.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin denied that Russian troops had targeted shopping malls and said his country was not attacking civilian facilities. He argued that Clementuk's target was a nearby arsenal, reflecting the remarks of his military personnel.
