Russia missile strike on Odesa injures 4, damages Antiguan-flagged vessel

Russian missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Odesa injured four people on Friday. 

Local media report that Russia launched Iskandar-M ballistic missiles, damaging port and civilian infrastructure as well as a civilian ship flying the Antiguan flag. 

An air raid alert was first sounded at around 2pm local time, and the first explosions were heard shortly afterwards. 

Odesa and other southern parts of Ukraine are regular targets of Russian missile and drone attacks. 

More than 70,000 people fighting in Russia’s military have now died in Ukraine, according to an independent tally by the Mediazona news website. 

However, the Ukrainian general staff instead reports that Russia has lost more than 639,000 troops since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy will travel to Washington next Thursday for talks with US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. 

He is expected to press for the US to allow Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to strike deeper into Russia. 

US officials said they have asked Ukraine to spell out more clearly its combat objectives should the administration green light loosening restrictions on long-range weaponry.