A deadly Russian missile attack Monday on the Black Sea port of Odesa killed at least four people and injured at least 28, among them two children and a pregnant woman. Four of the wounded are in serious condition receiving urgent care, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Kiper said one of the injured children is a 12-year-old boy and that the strike damaged houses and set fire to a large building that he described as an academy. He posted evidence showing smoke rising from the building close to the seafront.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy offered his condolences to the families who lost loved ones in the strike and said those who were wounded are receiving care.
He reiterated his call for urgent delivery of weapons from allies.
“Prompt assistance and protection of life that is timely and courageous enough are what help us all in Ukraine to endure,” he said.
Zelenskyy said he discussed Monday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg the significance of timely delivery of weapons to Ukraine.
“Timely and sufficient decisions on air defense for Ukraine are what we need right now to protect lives,” he said.
During the visit in Kyiv, Stoltenberg said that help is on the way to boost Ukraine’s war effort against Russia and that allies “are working hard to meet Ukraine's urgent needs."
Stoltenberg said that despite Ukraine’s losses, it's "not too late" for the country to win its defensive war against Russia if more weapons arrive quickly.
"Ukraine has been outgunned for months, forced to ration its ammunition. ... But it's not too late for Ukraine to prevail," he said at a news conference alongside Zelenskyy.
Stoltenberg criticized monthslong delays in U.S. military aid to Ukraine, adding that such delays had "serious consequences on the battlefield."
The NATO chief acknowledged that the alliance's other member countries have also failed to deliver in good time what they promised to Ukraine.
“The lack of ammunition has allowed the Russians to push forward along the front line. Lack of air defense has made it possible for more Russian missiles to hit their targets, and the lack of deep-strike capabilities has made it possible for the Russians to concentrate more forces,” Stoltenberg said.
Stoltenberg was visiting Ukraine when Russia claimed the capture of two Ukrainian villages in the Donetsk region within 24 hours as Kyiv's munitions and exhausted forces are being depleted on the front.
Ukraine and its Western partners are racing against time to deploy critical new military aid that can stave off Russian advances across eastern areas, as well as repel drone and missile attacks.
Zelenskyy said new Western supplies have started arriving, but slowly.
"This process must be speeded up," he said, adding, "Some things have started to arrive." He declined to elaborate.
Ukraine has been dependent on Western military aid to counter Russia's larger and more powerful army.
Kyiv's Western partners have pledged to stand with Ukraine "for as long as it takes." But essential U.S. military help was held up for six months by political wrangling in Washington, and Europe's military hardware production has not been able to keep up with demand.
Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law a congressionally approved $95 billion supplemental aid package, $61 billion of which is dedicated to Ukraine’s war effort.
Biden said military shipments of the package will start "right away," raising hopes in Kyiv that its critically low stocks of artillery shells will soon be replenished.
Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
