RussiaMissile strike on Odessa - Zelenskyi calls for help
SDA
1.2.2025 - 05:58
HANDOUT - In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, debris covers the street in the city's historic center after a Russian missile attack. Photo: Uncredited/Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP/dpa
Keystone
At least seven people have been injured in a Russian missile strike in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa. They all suffered "moderate injuries", the public prosecutor's office announced on Telegram.
Keystone-SDA
01.02.2025, 05:58
SDA
"Russian terrorists attacked the historic center with rockets," regional governor Oleh Kiper also wrote on Telegram and also published pictures of the old Bristol Hotel, which showed damage inside and out.
Kiper called on people to take the air raid alert seriously. Numerous historic buildings, including museums, were damaged this time. The old town in Odessa is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The Black Sea city has repeatedly been the target of Russian air strikes in Moscow's war of aggression, which has been going on for almost three years.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his evening video message that the strikes had been carried out against simple civilian buildings. According to him, Norwegian diplomats were also in the center at the time of the missile attack. Nothing happened to them.
For Ukraine, air defense remains a priority, said Selenskyj. "We are working with all our partners to achieve more protection for our state."
Selenskyj: Need faster deliveries
Following reports of problems with weapons deliveries, Zelenskyi said that the troops would continue to be equipped. However, more weapons and faster deliveries are needed to protect the lives of the defenders and civilians. In addition to simple weapons, this also includes drones. "Our industry has the potential," he said.
States in Europe in particular are willing to work more closely with Ukraine and invest in the country's arms production. "We must increase our partners' means of support for Ukraine's defense," emphasized Selenskyj. It is also the task of diplomats abroad to raise funds.
At a meeting on the situation on the front, he was also informed about the personnel situation, said Selensky. "We are preparing new formats to support the brigades and staff our units." He announced details for next week. There are repeated complaints from the military that there are not enough soldiers. For example, there is talk of lowering the draft age again in order to recruit younger men for the war effort.
Dispute over military procurement
There has been a dispute in Ukraine for days over allegedly insufficient arms purchases. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umjerov therefore dismissed his deputy Dmytro Klimenkov this week. The head of the military procurement agency, Maryna Besrukova, also had to go because, according to the ministry, she had not fulfilled her duties in the delivery of weapons for the front.
The head of the main department for the control of arms purchases at the ministry, Serhiy Bulavko, announced that the weapons would be delivered on time. "To date, there are no obstacles to the timely delivery of weapons and military equipment to the front in Ukraine," he said, according to the state agency Ukrinform. Contracts are being fulfilled and financing is also secured.