Russia Ukraine war live: Russian missile strike kills four in Odesa as Nato chief condemns slow aid for Kyiv

The attack killed at least three people and injured 62. The use of North Korean missiles in Ukraine is in violation of the 2006 UN arms embargo on the East Asian country, the report noted.

A student at the academy who identified herself by her first name, Maria, said the blaze in Odesa on Monday was caused when a missile was intercepted.

“In front of my eyes, a missile was shot down, this was just in front of me. My doors were blown open and the glass was shaking. And then I saw this,” she told Reuters, pointing to the burning building.

“Just before this happened, we wanted to go down there for a walk, but thank God we weren’t there when it happened.”

Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk, in a posting on a military Telegram channel, said the strike was conducted by an Iskander-M ballistic missile with a cluster warhead.

Public broadcaster Suspilne said the academy’s president, a prominent former member of parliament, Serhiy Kivalov, was among the injured.

A Russian missile attack on an educational institution in a popular seafront park in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa on Monday killed at least five people and injured 32, local officials said.

Regional governor Oleh Kiper, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said that in addition to those killed in the attack, one man died after suffering a stroke attributed to the strike.

Kiper said eight of the injured were in serious condition, including a 4-year-old child. Among the injured were another child and a pregnant woman.

Reuters Television footage showed the roof of the ornate building, a private law academy, all but destroyed after the strike. Firefighters were directing water on small fires still burning.

“Monsters. Beasts. Savages. Scum. I don’t know what else to say,” Odesa Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said in a video posted on Telegram. “People are going for a walk by the sea and they are shooting and killing.”

Pictures posted earlier online showed the building ablaze and smoke billowing skyward.

Video footage, which could not be immediately verified, showed people receiving treatment on the street alongside pools of blood. One photo showed officials examining part of a missile.

Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi made the comments as Russian forces have been pressing hard since they captured their biggest prize this year, Avdiivka, north of Donetsk city, eastern Ukraine, in February.

Recently Russian forces have advanced to the town of Novokalynove, north of Avdiivka, and into Keramik, northwest of there. There has also been significant movement around Ocheretyne, and Moscow claimed on Sunday its troops captured Novobakhmutivka, 16km (10 miles) north of Avdiivka and, closer, heavy fighting is reported near Berdychi. On Monday, Russia’s Defence Ministry claimed it has taken another village, Semenivka.

Moscow’s push has sought to take advantage of Ukraine running low of vital ammunition and weapons thanks to political infighting in the US Congress that delayed the passing of a $61bn (£48bn) aid package until last week.

NATO countries have failed to deliver in good time what they promised to Ukraine, the alliance’s chief said Monday, as Russia rushes to exploit its battlefield advantages before Kyiv‘s depleted forces get more Western military supplies in the war that has lasted more than two years.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that “serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine.

About 30 Ukrainian men have died trying to illegally cross Ukraine’s borders and avoid fighting in the war against Russia which started in 2022, an official in Kyiv said.

“Some lost their lives while attempting to cross a mountain river or traverse mountains,” said Andriy Demchenko, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s border service told the Ukrinform news agency.

He added: “Overall, since the full-scale invasion began, about 30 people have died attempting to illegally cross the border.”

Of these, 24 men alone have died while trying to cross the Tisa river on Ukraine’s border with Romania.

Additionally, Ukrainian border guards have uncovered about 450 criminal groups that have attempted to smuggle people across the border since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, Mr Demchenko said.

With some exceptions, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave the country as they may be mobilised to fight, according to Ukraine’s martial law.

Ukraine’s top commander has said Kyiv‘s outnumbered troops have fallen back to new positions west of three villages on the eastern front where Russia has concentrated significant forces in several locations.

The statement by Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi reflected Ukraine’s deteriorating position in the east that Kyiv hopes it can stabilise once it takes delivery of U.S. weapons under a $61 billion (£48bn) aid package approved this week.

Nato countries haven’t delivered what they promised to Ukraine in time, allowing Russia to press its advantage as Kyiv’s depleted forces waited for military supplies to arrive from US and Europe, the alliance’s chief said yesterday.

“Serious delays in support have meant serious consequences on the battlefield” for Ukraine, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference in Kyiv with president Volodymyr Zelensky.

Outgunned, Ukraine‘s troops have struggled to fend off Russian advances on the battlefield. They were recently compelled to make a tactical retreat from three villages in the east, where the Kremlin’s forces have been making incremental gains, Ukraine’s army chief said.

The Russian Defence Ministry claimed its forces had also taken the village of Semenivka.

“The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the front line. Lack of air defense has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces,” Mr Stoltenberg said.

Kyiv’s Western partners have repeatedly vowed to stand with Ukraine “for as long as it takes.”

But vital US military help was held up for six months by political differences in Washington, and Europe’s military hardware production has not kept up with demand. Ukraine‘s own manufacturing of heavy weapons is only now starting to gain traction.

Now, Ukraine and its Western partners are racing to deploy critical new military aid that can help check the slow and costly but steady Russian advance across eastern areas, as well as thwart drone and missile attacks.

A Ukrainian court on Friday ordered the detention of the country’s farm minister in the latest high-profile corruption investigation, while Kyiv security officials assessed how they can recover lost battlefield momentum in the war against Russia.

Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Agriculture Minister Oleksandr Solskyi should be held in custody for 60 days, but he was released after paying bail of 75 million hryvnias ($1.77 million), a statement said.

At least four people were killed after a Russian missile attack struck an educational institution in a popular seafront park in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa.

One man also suffered a stroke attributed to the missile attack, regional governor Oleh Kiper said. The injured include a child and a pregnant woman.

Seven of the injured were in serious condition, including a four-year-old child, the official said.

The missile attack was carried out using Iskander-M ballistic missile with a cluster warhead, a missile known as harder to intercept, said Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk.

Public broadcaster Suspilne said the academy’s president, a prominent former member of parliament, Serhiy Kivalov, was among the injured.

“Monsters. Beasts. Savages. Scum. I don’t know what else to say,” Odesa mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said in a video posted on Telegram. “People are going for a walk by the sea and they are shooting and killing.”

Reuters Television footage showed the roof of the ornate building, a private law academy, all but destroyed after the strike. Firefighters were directing water on small fires still burning actively.

A student at the academy who identified herself by her first name, Maria, said the blaze was caused when the missile was intercepted.

“In front of my eyes, a missile was shot down, this was just in front of me. My doors were blown open and the glass was shaking. And then I saw this,” she told Reuters, pointing to the burning building.

“Just before this happened, we wanted to go down there for a walk, but thank God we weren’t there when it happened.”