Ukraine news – live: Putin warned deadly apartment block bombing could be war crime
Russia’s night-time strike in Odesa comes after Ukraine expels Russian forces from Snake Island
Vladimir Putin must be “held to account” for a missile strike on an apartment block near Odesa, which has left at least 21 people dead, Germany has said.
At least two children were among those killed in the strike on a nine-story building in the small town of Serhiivka, near Odesa in southern Ukraine on Friday morning.
Germany condemned the attack, suggesting it could amount to a war crime if civilians had been deliberately targeted.
“The Russian President Putin and those responsible will have to be held accountable,” a German government spokesman told a briefing.
The Kremlin has denied Moscow targeted the building, insisting “the Russian Armed Forces do not work with civilian targets”.
The attack comes after Russian forces withdrew from the strategically important Snake Island on Thursday, a move Ukrainians hoped would ease the threat to nearby Odesa.
Breaking: Odesa apartment bombing death toll rises to 21
At least 21 people have died following a Russian missile strike on an apartment block near Odesa, Ukranian officials have said.
Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional administration, said 21 people had been confirmed killed, including a 12-year-old boy. The boy is one of two children reported to have died.
Authorities said earlier 41 people had been rescued from the apartment building where 152 lived.
Video: Satellite images of Ukraine's Snake Island after Russian troops flee
Russia seizes control of partly-foreign owned energy project
Vladimir Putin has handed full control over a major oil and natural gas project partly owned by Shell and two Japanese companies to a newly created Russian firm, a bold move amid spiralling tensions with the West over Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.
Mr Putin’s decree late Thursday orders the creation of a new company that would take over ownership of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co, which is nearly 50 per cent controlled by British energy giant Shell and Japan-based Mitsui and Mitsubishi.
His order named “threats to Russia’s national interests and its economic security” as the reason for the move at Sakhalin-2, one of the world’s largest export-orientated oil and natural gas projects.
The presidential order gives the foreign firms a month to decide if they want to retain the same shares in the new company.
Russian state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom had a controlling stake in Sakhalin-2, the country’s first offshore gas project that accounts for about 4% of the world’s market for liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
Japan, South Korea and China are the main customers for the project’s oil and LNG exports.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday that there is no reason to expect a shutdown of supplies following Mr Putin’s order.
Russian envoy to Bulgaria says she will ask Moscow to shut embassy
Russia’s ambassador to Bulgaria said on Friday she would ask Moscow to close down its embassy in the Balkan country after her appeal for Sofia to reverse a decision to expel 70 Russian diplomatic staff was ignored.
In a statement addressed to the Bulgarian people, the ambassador, Eleonora Mitrofanova, said the closure of the Russian embassy would inevitably lead to the closure of Bulgaria‘s embassy in Moscow too.
Bulgaria, an EU and NATO member state and once a close ally of Russia, has been roiled by diplomatic tensions this week after outgoing Prime Minister Kiril Petkov announced the expulsion of 70 Russian diplomatic staff on espionage concerns.
The move was the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats by Sofia in recent years and more than halved the size of Moscow’s diplomatic footprint in Bulgaria.
Russia’s ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova called the expulsions an “unprecedented hostile step and on Thursday told Sofia to reverse its decision by midday on Friday. If it did not, she said she would ask Moscow to consider ending Russia’s physical diplomatic presence in Bulgaria altogether.
Petkov earlier on Friday rejected her ultimatum.
“Unfortunately our appeal to Bulgaria‘s ministry of foreign affairs was ignored,” Mitrofanova, the Russian ambassador, wrote in a statement.
“I intend to quickly put the question of the closure of Russia’s embassy in Bulgaria before my country’s leadership, which will inevitably mean the closure of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Moscow,” she wrote.
Protests over Russian film set to be screened at Czech film festival
An international film festival in the Czech spa town of Karlovy Vary opened on Friday amid controversy, following a protest by Ukraine over the screening of a Russian film alongside Ukrainian-made movies.
Before the start of the 56th edition of the festival, several leading Ukrainian filmmakers and Ukraine‘s ambassador to Prague protested over the scheduled screening of Captain Volkonogov Escaped.
Ukrainian ambassador Yevhen Perebyinis said in an open letter that it would be “inhuman” to screen Ukrainian films alongside a Russian movie made with support from Russia’s culture ministry at a time when Russian troops had “committed atrocities” during their invasion of his country.
Organisers said they consider the Russian movie, whose world premiere was at last year’s Venice Film Festival, as being indirectly critical of the current Russian leadership.
Four Ukrainian films and eight other nearly-completed movies produced or co-produced by Ukraine will also be screened at the festival.
Putin must be held accountable after Russia missile attacks near Odesa, Germany says
Germany on Friday condemned missile strikes near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, saying attacks on civilians were war crimes.
“The Russian President Putin and those responsible will have to be held accountable,” a German government spokesman told a briefing.
Missiles rained near Odesa on Friday, hitting an apartment building and a resort and killing at least 19 people, hours after Russian troops were driven off the nearby Snake Island. Russian denies targeting civilians.
Turkey can re-export Black Sea grains to states in need, Erdogan says
Turkey can re-export grain products like wheat, oat, and barley from the Black Sea to countries in need after talks with Russia and Ukraine, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, adding he would discuss the matter with both countries in coming days.
Ukraine is one of the top global wheat suppliers, but shipments have been halted by Russia’s invasion, causing global food shortages. The United Nations has appealed to both sides, as well as maritime neighbour Turkey, to agree to a corridor.
Speaking after Friday prayers in Istanbul, Erdogan said his office was working with Kyiv and Moscow to set up calls with his counterparts and that 20 Turkish vessels were ready to take part in the potential shipments.
After talks with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, “we can send wheat, barley, oat, sunflower oil and all to countries in need by carrying out a re-export through us,” he said, adding Turkey’s stocks were “in good shape” for now.
‘Political pawn’ US basketball star Brittney Griner appears in Moscow court
More here on detained US basketball player Brittney Griner, who has appeared in a Moscow court this morning.
She was arrested on cannabis possession charges four months ago, but her wife says she is being treated as a ‘political pawn’
David Harding has the full story here:
‘Political pawn’ US basketball star Brittney Griner appears in Moscow court
Griner’s wife has called her “a political pawn”.
Terrified shoppers run for cover in new footage of Russian attack on Ukraine mall
Ukraine has released new footage of shoppers diving for cover the moment a Russian missile hit a busy mall.
Video captured by CCTV cameras shows terrified customers running for their lives moments after the attack at the Amstor mall in Kremenchuk, central Ukraine on Monday.
The strike killed at least 18 in the shopping centre alone. A further 59 were injured, while a further 20 people remain missing.
A missile can be seen flying towards the building in footage from outside the shopping centre. Seconds later, a huge explosion takes place, throwing debris high into the air.
Before the strike, shoppers can be seen calmly browsing busy stores and walking around the exterior of the mall.
The footage, released by Ukraine’s security service, calls into question Russia’s claims the mall was “non-functioning” and was being used to store ammunition.
Terrified shoppers run for cover in new footage of Russian attack on Ukraine mall
Video calls into question Russia’s claims the mall was ‘non-functioning’ and being used to store ammunition
Bulgaria destroys naval mine off its Black Sea coast
Bulgaria’s military late on Thursday carried out a controlled explosion of a Soviet-era naval mine that had drifted close to the country’s Black Sea coast, the defence ministry said on Friday.
Black Sea countries began to report the appearance of such mines floating in the sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of planting them.
The defence ministry said the mine was first noticed some 27 nautical miles east of the mouth of the Kamchia river by a motor ship.
“Military experts classify the mine as an anchored “YaM” type, placed in a combat position. The mine has been destroyed with a controlled explosion carried out by a group of divers,” it said in a statement.
The Black Sea is a major shipping artery for grain, oil and oil products.
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