Ukraine Recaptures Snake Island, Russian Missile Hits Odesa And Kill 10 People

Illustration Pulau Ular di Laut Hitam. (Wikimedia Commons/Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - A Russian missile attack on Ukraine's southern port of Odesa early Friday, killed at least 10 people, a regional official said, a day after Ukraine "expelled" Russian troops from the strategic Black Sea outpost on Snake Island.

Earlier reports said six people were killed in a nighttime attack on a residential building, including three children.

"The death toll from the attack on the high-rise apartment building has now risen to 10," Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa regional government, said on his Telegram channel.

Reuters could not independently confirm details of the incident.

It came after Russia on Thursday said it decided to withdraw from Snake Island as a 'sign of good faith', to show Moscow was not blocking UN efforts to open a humanitarian corridor that would allow grain shipments from Ukraine.

By contrast, Ukraine said it had driven Russian troops off the island following artillery and missile strikes, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy praising the strategic victory.

Illustration of the impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

"It does not guarantee security. It does not guarantee that the enemy will not return," he said in a video of his evening speech.

"But this significantly limits the actions of the invaders. Step by step, we will push them back from our seas, our lands and our skies," President Zelensky said.

The Snake Island was retaken by Ukraine after weeks, during which the momentum in the four-month conflict appeared to be shifting towards Russia. The Ukrainian military posted an image on Facebook of what looks like the island, seen from the air, with several columns of black smoke rising above it.

"The enemy hastily evacuated the remnants of the garrison with two speed boats and probably left the island. At this time, Snake island was engulfed in flames, the explosion exploded," he wrote.

Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksii Hromov said Ukrainian forces had not yet occupied the island but would do so.

The rocky island faces a sea route to Odesa, Ukraine's main Black Sea port, where Russia is blocking food cargo from one of the world's leading grain suppliers.

Snake Island caught the world's attention after Russia seized it on the first day of what it described as a "special operation" to disarm dangerous nationalists.

Illustration of the impact of the Russian attack on Ukraine. (Wikimedia Commons/State Emergency Service of Ukraine)

Moscow denies blocking ports and blames food shortages for Western sanctions it says are limiting its own exports.

Russia has defended the island since February despite Ukraine claiming it inflicted heavy damage, sinking supply ships and destroying Russian strongholds.

Separately, Ukrainian troops desperately defended against superior Russian weapons in the city of Lysychansk. Russian artillery was fired from different directions as Russian troops approached from several sides, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Ukrainian television.

"The superiority in the firepower of the invaders is still very much evident. They just brought all their reserves to attack us," explained President Zelensky.

Russian troops have been trying to encircle Lysychansk since they captured Sievierodonetsk, across the Donets Siverskyi River last week, after weeks of heavy fighting.

Meanwhile, in Sievierodonetsk, residents have emerged from their basements and sift through the rubble of their destroyed city as they wish to rebuild.

"Almost all the infrastructure of the city was destroyed. We have been living without gas, electricity, and water since May," Sergei Oleinik, a 65-year-old resident, told Reuters. "We're glad it's over, and maybe soon the reconstruction will start, and we'll be back to more or less normal lives."

Despite surrendering and receiving heavy losses in eastern Donbas in recent weeks, Ukraine hopes to inflict enough damage to exhaust the advancing Russian army and counterattack in the south of the region.