Ukraine Russia war live: Putin’s forces fire missile that almost hits Zelensky motorcade in Odesa attack

Ukraine has no evidence to suggest that the Russian airstrike near Volodymyr Zelensky’s motorcade in Odesa targeted the Ukrainian president, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the operational command south.

The president was in Odesa to meet Greek prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, when the incident happened.

“What is happening is that Russia is a terrorist [state], and obviously, it continues its attacks on port infrastructure,” the spokesperson told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

“It in no way relates to any specific visit [by foreign officials] … it’s connected with the enemy’s methodical terror campaign.”

Wednesday’s strike hit one of the port infrastructure buildings in Odesa, she added.

Russia launched over 880 attack drones and over 170 missiles on the Black Sea port infrastructure in Ukraine‘s Odesa region since July last year, a Ukrainian navy commander said on Wednesday.

Moscow has stepped up attacks on port infrastructure since mid-July, when it quit a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed safe passage of Ukrainian grain shipments via the Black Sea.

Volodymyr Zelensky’s motorcade was nearly hit by a Russian missile on Wednesday as the Ukrainian President visited the Black Sea port of Odessa.

Zelensky was with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis when the missile hit infrastructure close enough for the leaders to see the strike, with sources estimating the attack happened a mere 500 to 800 metre distance from the delegations.

“You see who we’re dealing with, they don’t care where to hit,” Zelensky told reporters in the wake of the incident, which killed five people, according to a Ukrainian navy spokesperson.

The Ukrainian military will stabilize the battlefield situation shortly and aims to form units for counter-offensive actions later this year, a top military commander said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian forces experienced a setback following nine months of mostly stable front lines, when the eastern city of Avdiivka fell into Russian hands earlier in February after months of devastating attacks.

Ukrainian troops were forced to leave several settlements neighboring the city due to Russia’s continued offensive amid its own depleting stockpiles of munitions. Meanwhile, a vital aid package from the U.S. has been stalled by Republicans in Congress.

“We will stabilize the situation shortly,” Oleksandr Pavliuk, appointed as ground force commander during the recent top military reshuffle, said in televised comments, “and do everything possible to prepare the troops for more active actions, and to seize the initiative.”

He added that current work was aimed at withdrawing military units that lost their potential and restoring them to later form a force for counter-offensive actions this year.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after talks with energy officials over safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

The Kremlin published introductory remarks by Putin and Grossi at the meeting in Sochi in southern Russia but gave no details of the closed-door meeting that followed.

Putin told Grossi he was prepared to discuss “particularly sensitive and important issues on the agenda … and do everything to ensure security anywhere we are in one or another involved in nuclear energy”, the Kremlin said.

Grossi met the head of state nuclear power company Rosatom Alexei Likhachev alongside Putin.

Russian forces seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in their 2022 invasion of Ukraine and have occupied it since. Grossi is due to meet Putin in the southern Russian city of Sochi later on Wednesday.

Zaporizhzhia lies close to the front lines in a part of southern Ukraine which Moscow claims to have annexed. All six of its reactors are shut down, but it requires constant power and a water supply to keep it cool and prevent a potentially catastrophic meltdown.

It was damaged by fire when it was taken over in March 2022, and Russian and Ukrainian troops continue to clash nearby, accusing each other of shelling around the station. The IAEA has been trying to set up a safety mechanism to prevent accidents.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants Tuesday for two high-ranking Russian military officers on charges linked to attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine that judges said happened “pursuant to a state policy.”

It’s only the second time the global court has publicly announced arrest warrants linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine. In March 2023, the court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the court announced warrants for Russian Lt. Gen. Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, who was commander of the Long-Range Aviation of the Aerospace Force at the times of the alleged crimes. Also wanted is Russian navy Adm. Viktor Kinolayevich Sokolov, who was the commander of the Black Sea Fleet.

As part of Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s ever-increasing clampdown on dissent, authorities in recent years have adopted a slew of laws restricting fundamental human rights, including freedom of speech and assembly, as well as the rights of minorities and religious groups.

These laws have taken aim at “foreign agents” allegedly seeking to exert influence on Russia, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and organizations spreading information critical of the Kremlin or contrary to official narratives, especially regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Furious with Germany, Moscow leveled threats in response.

“If nothing is done, and the German people do not stop this, then there will be dire consequences first and foremost for Germany itself,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Monday.

In her retort, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said, “If Russia had not brutally attacked this country, Ukraine would not have to defend itself,” according to the dpa news agency.

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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi met Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday after talks with energy officials over safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

The Kremlin published introductory remarks by Putin and Grossi at the meeting in Sochi in southern Russia but gave no details of the closed-door meeting that followed.

Putin told Grossi he was prepared to discuss “particularly sensitive and important issues on the agenda … and do everything to ensure security anywhere we are in one or another involved in nuclear energy”, the Kremlin said.

Grossi met the head of state nuclear power company Rosatom Alexei Likhachev alongside Putin.

Russian forces seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in their 2022 invasion of Ukraine and have occupied it since. Grossi is due to meet Putin in the southern Russian city of Sochi later on Wednesday.

Zaporizhzhia lies close to the front lines in a part of southern Ukraine which Moscow claims to have annexed. All six of its reactors are shut down, but it requires constant power and a water supply to keep it cool and prevent a potentially catastrophic meltdown.

It was damaged by fire when it was taken over in March 2022, and Russian and Ukrainian troops continue to clash nearby, accusing each other of shelling around the station. The IAEA has been trying to set up a safety mechanism to prevent accidents.

The Ukrainian military will stabilize the battlefield situation shortly and aims to form units for counter-offensive actions later this year, a top military commander said on Wednesday.

Ukrainian forces experienced a setback following nine months of mostly stable front lines, when the eastern city of Avdiivka fell into Russian hands earlier in February after months of devastating attacks.

Ukrainian troops were forced to leave several settlements neighboring the city due to Russia’s continued offensive amid its own depleting stockpiles of munitions. Meanwhile, a vital aid package from the U.S. has been stalled by Republicans in Congress.

“We will stabilize the situation shortly,” Oleksandr Pavliuk, appointed as ground force commander during the recent top military reshuffle, said in televised comments, “and do everything possible to prepare the troops for more active actions, and to seize the initiative.”

He added that current work was aimed at withdrawing military units that lost their potential and restoring them to later form a force for counter-offensive actions this year.