Day 38 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Missiles in Odessa, 3000 evacuated from Mariupol

Ukrainian authorities have announced Russian shelling of the strategic Black Sea port of Odessa, a general detained in an attempt to flee the country and an exchange of prisoners of war with Russia. On Friday, humanitarian corridors opened in three Ukrainian districts - Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

Day 37 of the Invasion of Ukraine: Russia Regroups Troops, the US Released Oil from its Reserves

At least three Russian ballistic missiles have hit a residential area of ​​Odessa, causing casualties, Odessa Oblast Governor Maxim Marchenko was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. He did not give specific numbers.

The rockets were fired late last night from the Crimean peninsula, which Russia took from Ukraine, Marchenko added.

These allegations have not been confirmed by an independent source.

Iskander missiles were fired at key infrastructure, but did not hit their target, as they were intercepted by the country's air defenses, the Ukrainian army said.

Odessa is the largest port in Ukraine and the main base of its naval forces, the AP notes.

Two or three powerful explosions were heard tonight in the southern city of Dnipro, local officials said.

The Kryvyi Rih region, also in the Dnipropetrovsk region, came under rocket fire. As a result, a fire broke out at a gas station in the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said a representative of local authorities.

Like all reports from war zones, this information cannot be verified independently, the DPA notes.

A major general from the reserve of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) was detained while trying to leave the country illegally, investigators said. He was stopped at a border checkpoint with Hungary, where he showed false documents that he was unfit for military service. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian president said he had appealed two SBU brigadier generals, but did not explain why. One of them last headed a division of the service in the southern Kherson region, which is now occupied by Russia.

“I don't have time to deal with traitors,” Zelensky said concisely, while praising SBU officials in general for their efforts during the war.

Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners of war yesterday, Deputy Head of Zelensky's Office Kirill Tymoshenko was quoted as saying by Reuters.

As a result, Moscow has released 86 Ukrainian soldiers, men and women, Tymoshenko said in an online publication. He did not specify how many Russian troops Kyiv has released. The exchange took place as part of ongoing peace talks, Tymoshenko said.

More than 3,000 people were evacuated from Mariupol

More than 3,000 people have been evacuated from the Russian army-besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted as saying by AFP.

In a video message released last night, Zelensky said humanitarian corridors worked in three Ukrainian districts on Friday - Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.

“We managed to save 6,266 people, 3,071 of them from Mariupol,” he said.

Earlier, AFP reported that evacuated residents of Mariupol joined a humanitarian convoy in the Russian-occupied city of Berdyansk, from where they were transported to Zaporizhzhia. Zelensky did not specify whether he meant these people, the agency notes.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which was scheduled to take part in the operation, said yesterday that its team on its way to Mariupol had been forced to return because the planned evacuation of thousands of people from the city was not possible. The ICRC later announced that it would make another attempt today to evacuate civilians from the city, where an estimated 100,000 locals remain trapped in appalling conditions.

“The situation in eastern Ukraine remains extremely difficult from a military point of view,” Zelensky was quoted as saying by Reuters.

According to him, Russia is preparing for new strikes in the eastern Donbass region and the northeastern city of Kharkiv. Russian troops in northern Ukraine are withdrawing, slowly but surely, he added.

Zelensky said in an interview with Fox News that sanctions against Russia were working. However, punitive measures need to be tightened, he urged.

In a video address, the Ukrainian president also said that the withdrawing Russian troops left behind a “complete catastrophe”, the Associated Press reported.

Zelensky warned the population in the northern regions and the outskirts of the capital Kyiv to watch out for new Russian shelling and abandoned antipersonnel mines.

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