Odessa reels under missile strikes

THE port city of Odessa reeled yesterday from Russian missile strikes as Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock became the highest-ranking official from Berlin to visit Ukraine since Moscow’s invasion.

Fresh fighting raged in the east and south of Ukraine, with officials saying over 1000 Ukrainian fighters including hundreds of injured remain holed up in the besieged Azovstal plant in the devastated city of Mariupol.

The series of missile strikes in Odessa destroyed buildings, set ablaze a shopping centre and killed one person, just hours after a visit by European Council President Charles Michel. He had warned that vital supplies of wheat and grain that were ready for export from Ukraine, were stuck in Odessa because of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Members of the World Health Organization’s European region passed a resolution that could result in the closure of Russia’s regional office and the suspension of meetings in the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden, who signed a historic bill into law that will expedite the process of sending military aid to Kyiv, also urged US lawmakers to approve a $40 billion aid package. Biden said he was concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t have a way out” of the war.