Damage from a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, April 30, 2024 (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Reuters)

Tuesday’s Coverage: 5+ Killed, 32 Wounded in Odesa By Russia’s Missiles

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1113 GMT:

The death toll has risen to six from Monday’s Russian missile attack on Odesa in southern Ukraine.

One of the 32 injured civilians died in hospital, Mayor Hennadii Trukhanov said on Wednesday.

Ukraine Prosecutor General denounced Russia’s use of an Iskander missile armed with cluster munitions: “This is an indiscriminate weapon, the use of which can lead to significant casualties among the civilian population. The investigators have a reason to believe that the decision to use such a weapon was taken by the Russian military officers deliberately to kill as many Ukrainian civilians as possible.”

UPDATE 1004 GMT:

At least two people have been killed and two injured in Russia’s latest attacks on the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine (see also Original Entry and 0703 GMT).

Russian forces used guided bombs on a car, causing the fatalities, and a home in Zolochiv, about 15 km (9 miles) from the Russian border. Two civilians in their 70s were injured amid three fires.

Ten residences were damaged, with no casualties, in Kharkiv city.

Two residents in the neighboring Donetsk region were killed on Tuesday.

UPDATE 0723 GMT:

Amid US sanctions on Moscow, Turkey’s exports to Russia declined by more than 30% in the first quarter of 2024.

In late December, the Biden Administration issued an executive order giving the US Treasury the power to punish foreign banks with secondary sanctions, if they deal with Russian companies linked to the military-industrial complex and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Banks in Turkey, China, the UAE, Armenia, and Kazakhstan have restricted and even halted transactions of Russian clients amid the sanctions. The Kremlin has complained of “unprecedented, open, aggressive pressure” from the US against Turkish financial institutions.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said last month that Russia and Turkey are “constantly holding working level contacts on all financial issues looking for a way out of this situation”.

UPDATE 0708 GMT:

Lidia Stepanivna Lomikovska, 98, has escaped Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine by walking almost 10km (6.2 miles) alone.

Wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane, Lomikovska was separated from her family after they decided to leave the frontline town of Ocheretyne in the Donetsk region.

She recounted how she continued, “Once I lost balance and fell into weeds. I fell asleep…a little and continued walking. And then, for the second time, again, I fell. But then I got up and thought to myself, I need to keep walking, bit by bit.”

Lomikovska was discovered by Ukrainian soldiers and taken to safety.

UPDATE 0703 GMT:

The International Rescue Committee has reported residents of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv “experiencing heightened anxiety and distress” amid persistent, intense Russian aerial attacks.

The IRC said an increasingly anxious population is suffering “severe power outages, interruptions in water and heating supply, and a complete halt of trams for public transportation”. It cited “extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and… a sharp increase in casualties among the local population” as”air raid sirens sound day and night”.

UPDATE 0656 GMT:

The US Senate has approved legislation to ban imports of Russian uranium.

The measure, passed by the House in December, was adopted by unanimous consent. It now goes to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The legislation takes effect 90 days after enactment. It has waivers in the event of supply concerns for domestic reactors, and it frees up $2.7 billion from previous legislation to expand the domestic uranium processing industry.

US nuclear power plants imported around 12% of their uranium from Russia in 2022.

UPDATE 0648 GMT:

Ukrainian drones have struck an oil refinery in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow.

Ryazan Governor Pavlo Malkov said an “inspection is ongoing” at the refinery.

Voronezh Governor Aleksandr Gusev said air defenses shot down a drone over the suburbs of Voronezh city in western Russia: “As a result of falling debris, the glass in the building under construction was broken.”

No casualties have been reported in either attack.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Russia has carried out deadly missile strikes on the port city of Odesa in southern Ukraine for the second night in a row.

“The enemy attacked Odesa with ballistic missiles. Three people were killed and three more injured in the attack. The victims are receiving the necessary medical assistance,” posted Oleh Kiper, head of the regional military administration.

He said civilian infrastructure was damaged.

Overnight on Monday-Tuesday, Russia killed five people and injured 32. Four of the victims, including a 4-year-old girl, were critically wounded.

Residential buildings and “civil infrastructure” were struck, with damage to a private law academy and the “Harry Potter Castle” set ablaze.

1 Slain, 9 Injured in Kharkiv

In Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, Russian guided bombs targeting a railway killed a worker in his 20s and injured at least nine people.

The bombs damaged civilian infrastructure, administrative buildings, and some cars.