At least 10 Ukrainians were killed and 50 others wounded by Russian strikes over the past day, just after the EU stalled on a new sanctions package hoping to tighten the pressure on the Kremlin.
A drone blasted a residential tower block in the port city of Odesa overnight, causing damage to several floors and trapping residents, according to emergency service workers.
A teacher and her husband died, their bodies found under the debris. Another 17 people were injured, including three children, according to Ukrainian officials.
The offensive in Odesa followed a Russian missile attack that killed at least five people and wounded 25 in the city of Samar in Ukraine’s south-east on Friday – the second strike there in three days.
Another two civilians were also killed in their homes during Moscow’s strikes on two villages in the Donetsk region Friday, and another man lost his life in a drone attack on the Kherson region.
The pummeling of Ukrainian cities and the climbing death toll in the three-year war comes as Kyiv marked Constitution Day on Saturday — with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky taking time to salute the war dead.
“We honored the memory of our defenders whose lives were taken by Russian aggression,” he posted to X.
“We remember their sacrifice. Eternal gratitude and respect to the fallen heroes.”
Meanwhile, the European Union extended existing sanctions against Russia for another six months, but the body failed to adopt a new sanctions package due to Slovak opposition Thursday, sources told the Kyiv Independent.
A planned18th sanctions package, which would include new restrictions against the Kremlin’s energy and banking sectors, is not expected to be approved until next week as negotiations continue.
Slovakia said it was willing to lift its veto once the EU promises to help mitigate the impact of weaning out Russian energy sources, which the country depends on.
Last week, the UK and Canada escalated sanctions against Russia’s financial, military and energy sectors, following the G7 meeting.
“We are coordinating on sanctions with all G7 nations, as well as with other key global jurisdictions,” Zelensky posted on X Saturday.
“Russia’s accountability for this war and our sanctions pressure must be operating at full capacity. They must leave no room for Russia or its cronies to adapt.”
