Kyiv [Ukraine], July 21: One person was killed and at least 19 people were injured in Russian attacks on the centre of the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, officials said on Thursday.
At least five children were injured in attacks on the centre of Mykolaiv, regional governor Vitaly Kim posted on the Telegram messaging service.
A three-storey building and several garages reportedly caught fire in the town. Two people were rescued from the rubble, Kim wrote, calling it a miracle. Russian forces launched a third night of air strikes on the Odessa region on the Black Sea overnight and also targetted the neighbouring region of Mykolaiv.
"Russian terrorists continue their attempts to destroy the life of our country," Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky tweeted on Thursday.
Russia has been waging an unprovoked war against neighbouring Ukraine for almost 17 months. The southern Black Sea regions, which hold important Ukrainian port infrastructure, are repeatedly being targeted by Russian fire.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian Oniks cruise missiles hit both Mykolaiv and Odessa. These weapons are typically used against ships and are almost impossible to shoot down.
Meanwhile German Foreign Minister AnnalenaBaerbock announced plans to step up international efforts aimed at getting grain out of Ukraine, after Russia abandoned an export agreement in the Black Sea earlier this week.
Baerbock laid out an option to transport more exports out of the country via rail so that grain does "not rot in silos in the coming weeks" but reaches people urgently in need.
A Turkish Defence Ministry source told DPA that the Russian team had left the Istanbul centre which is responsible for the implementation of the Black Sea grain deal. There was no immediate response from Russia.
Moscow withdrew from the grain deal on Monday. The Turkish team remains at the site "in case negotiations to extend the deal yield a result," the official added.
The UN team is also still in Istanbul, a UN delegation spokesperson told dpa over the phone. The Joint Coordination Centre was established nearly a year ago to monitor the grain agreement. It included representatives from Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN. The international grain deal had allowed Ukraine to safely export its grain on cargo ships travelling via Black Sea ports, despite a Russian naval blockade.
The deal, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, also included inspections of the ships to make sure they were not carrying military cargo for use in the war zone.
Following its withdrawal from the agreement, Moscow has warned that the Russian military will consider any ship travelling through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports a potential carrier of military cargo and thus a hostile threat.
The step marks a significant escalation of tensions in the Black Sea, which has been a flashpoint in Russia's nearly 17-month full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Baerbock said Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats towards merchant ships in the Black Sea were "an attack on the international order." The US warned Russia not to attack civilian ships in the Black Sea. Russia has laid more sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports, broadcaster CNN quoted the spokesman for the National Security Council, Adam Hodge, as saying in Washington on Wednesday.
Source: Qatar Tribune