At least 21 people were killed in the shelling on the city of Odessa on Friday. According to Ukrainian authorities, the missiles were fired from the Black Sea at a residential building and a hotel complex. Shots that occur the day after the withdrawal of Russian forces from Serpents’ Island, about thirty kilometers off Odessa. An important victory for the Ukrainians, even if it remains difficult to measure the impact on the maritime blockade exercised by Moscow.
At least 21 people were killed in strikes by strategic bombers in the middle of the night on buildings in the Odessa region, in southern Ukraine, kyiv President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, denouncing a new act of ” terror » Russian.
According to the Ukrainian command of the southern front, Kh-22 missiles, normally designed to strike a carrier battle group against civilian buildings in a small coastal town south of Odessa. According to the Ukrainian army, these are missiles of the same type which hit a shopping center in the middle of the day on Monday in Kremenchukin central Ukraine, 200 km from the front, killing at least 19 people, according to the latest reports.
Possible progress in the negotiations?
The Russian army had announced the day before that it had withdrawn from Serpents’ Island, a strategic position in the Black Sea conquered by Moscow and which has been under Ukrainian bombardment in recent weeks. This withdrawal is an important victory for the Ukrainians but it remains difficult to measure the impact on the maritime blockade exercised by Russia in the area, according to Thibault Fouillet, specialist in defense issues at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS ). “ This indicates a dynamic of the loosening of this blockade. Afterwards, from there to having strategic consequences on the whole of this conflict or even on the area, it is too early to say.he points out.. We will have to confirm: will this blockade tend to loosen more and more until one day it will be loose enough to no longer be really effective or will the setback be minor in the end and will not have any direct impact on the Russians’ ability to blockade the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea? Time will tell us. »
The Russians speak of a gesture of ” good will to show that they are not behind the maritime blockade. Could this withdrawal, paradoxically, facilitate negotiations for the exit of ships loaded with Ukrainian cereals? ” What is certain is that this lock which completely prevented the export of cereals seems to have been loosened, analyzes the specialist. Afterwards, you have to be completely consistent: control of the Black Sea and control of the Sea of Azov remain above all Russian. So it still remains a question of Russian goodwill and diplomatic negotiations. So it may be able to move forward, but it will not radically change the paradigm. Everything rests on the Russian will to apply or not to apply the blockade. »