Russia hits Ukraine’s port during Greek PM visit

ODESA (Reuters) — A Russian missile missed Ukraine’s president and the prime minister of Greece by hundreds of meters on Wednesday when it slammed into port infrastructure in the Black Sea city of Odesa.

“It seems to me that we have not only heard, we have seen this strike today,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a news conference alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The attack occurred at an estimated 500 to 800 meter distance from the delegations, sources said.

“You see who we’re dealing with, they don’t care where to hit.”

Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesperson for Ukraine’s navy, told the national news agency Ukrinform that the intended target was Odesa’s port infrastructure. Five people were killed, he said.

Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces, said she believed the presence of the two leaders was coincidental.

“What is happening is that Russia is a terrorist and it is clearly continuing to attack port infrastructure,” Humeniuk told U.S.-funded Radio Liberty.

“Yes, there was a missile strike on Odesa … However, this is in no way connected to a specific visit.”

The Ukrainian air force announced a ballistic missile threat in the region this morning but there were no official reports up until the news conference after the leaders inspected the port and Ukraine’s humanitarian corridor for maritime exports.

Germany backs to buy Ukraine ammo outside EU

BERLIN (AFP) — Germany said Wednesday it would back a Czech proposal to purchase sorely needed ammunition for Ukraine from outside the European Union.

Germany would pledge a “three-digit million euro sum” to the Czech initiative, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said at a regular press conference in Berlin.

Hebestreit did not specify where the munitions would be sourced from or give a more specific range for the funding amount.

Ukrainian forces have for months been contending with a lack of ammunition as they try to hold off Russian troops.

Kyiv’s backers have sent millions of their own shells to Ukraine, but stocks are running low.

Some of Ukraine’s European allies have also been reluctant up until now to channel defense spending to anywhere outside the bloc.

“We have finally managed to break the blockade so that we can also procure ammunition outside of Europe,” Hebestreit said.

Reuters-Yonhap Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, visit a sea port, amid Russia’s attack targeting Odesa, Ukraine, Wednesday.