Russian missiles strike Odesa again as situation worsens on eastern front

Washington has accused Russia of deploying chemical weapons as a “method of warfare” in Ukraine, in violation of international laws banning their use.

The US State Department said Russia had used the choking agent chloropicrin to make “battlefield gains” over Ukraine in a statement on Wednesday.

“The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces’ desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield,” the statement said.

Chloropicrin is listed as a banned choking agent by the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Also known as PS, it was widely used during World War I and can cause lung, eye and skin irritation, as well as vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea.

The Kremlin has rejected the accusations, calling them “baseless”.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that Russia stood by its obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits states from developing or acquiring new weapons. Some 193 states have ratified the convention.

Kyiv faces Russian push in eastern Ukraine

The situation on the front line in eastern Ukraine is worsening, a senior Ukrainian military official said Thursday. 

According to Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukrainian strategic command in the east of the country, local defenders are so far holding firm against a concerted push by Russia’s bigger and better-equipped forces,

Russia has amassed troops in the Donetsk region to punch through the Ukrainian defensive line, said Voloshyn.

“The enemy is trying to seize the strategic initiative and breach our defence,” he said on national television.

“The enemy is actively attacking along the entire front line, and in several directions, they have achieved certain tactical advances. The situation is changing dynamically.”

Russia has pushed Ukraine onto the back foot on the battlefield as Kyiv grapples with shortages of troops and ammunition. Ukrainian forces are now racing to build more defensive fortifications at places along the around 1000-kilometre front line.

Kyiv’s struggle has been deepening for months as the military waited for vital new military aid from the US. The support was held up in Washington for six months.

14 injured in third attack on Odesa in a week

Russia launched its third attack in a week on the southern port city of Odesa, firing ballistic missiles and injuring 14 people, local officials and emergency services said.

The attack hit a sorting depot belonging to Ukraine’s biggest private delivery company, Nova Poshta. No staff were injured, the company said, but the strike started a major fire.

On Monday, six people were killed in a Russian missile strike on Odesa, and two days later three people died there when the Kremlin’s forces targeted civilian infrastructure.

Long-range strikes have been a feature of the Kremlin’s war of attrition. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday that Russia had launched more than 300 missiles of various types, almost 300 Shahed drones, and more than 3,200 guided aerial bombs at Ukraine in April alone.