Ukrainian officials claim a Russian missile strike on residential buildings in Odesa killed 18.
They also said eight people died in a Wednesday strike in Mykolaiv.
I thought Russia already absorbed Belarus. Guess it will become official:
Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed Friday that western alliances in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine are “pushing” Russia and Belarus to unite.Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko has thus far been able to keep Minsk’s direct involvement out of the war in Ukraine, but comments by Putin posted to the Kremlin’s website suggest this may not be the case for long.”The unprecedented political and sanctions pressure from the so-called ‘collective West’ is pushing us to speed up the unification processes,” the Kremlin chief said according to Russian media outlet RIA. “After all, together it is easier to minimize the damage from illegal sanctions, it is easier to master the production of demanded products, develop new competencies and expand cooperation with friendly countries.”
Ukrainian officials said eight people died in a Russian strike on a residential building in Mykolaiv on Wednesday:
Eight people have now been confirmed dead after a Russian missile strike on a residential building in Ukraine’s southern city of Mykolaiv on Wednesday, according to local officials.Ukraine’s state emergency service reported late last night that the body of a man was discovered under a collapsed staircase, bringing the total death toll to eight and six wounded.Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said on Wednesday that eight missiles had hit the city, adding that the residential building appeared to have been hit by a Russian X-55 cruise missile.
The missile strike hit the important port city overnight. The New York Times reports 19 dead:
Overnight missile strikes on a residential tower and a recreational center in a coastal town southwest of the Black Sea port city of Odesa early Friday killed at least 19 and injured dozens of others, Ukrainian officials said.One of the missiles hit a nine-story residential tower in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi, about 50 miles southwest of Odesa, killing 16 and injuring at least 37, according to Ukraine’s state emergency service. Another hit a recreational center, where three died and one was injured, officials said.Rescuers completed the search for bodies at the tower, which was home to more than 100 people and which was destroyed on one side, according to the regional military administration. They were still going through the rubble of the recreational center, officials said. The missiles struck around 1 a.m.The Kremlin’s spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, again denied on Friday that Russia was targeting any civilian infrastructure. “I would like to again remind you of the words of the president of the Russian Federation and commander in chief that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are not working against civilian targets in the course of the special military operation,” Mr. Peskov said in his daily conference call with reporters.Russia’s targets, he said, included ammunition and arms depots, plants that manufacture and repair military equipment, and places where “foreign mercenaries” and “nationalist elements” are based and trained.
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