Merchant Ship Leaves for Black Sea as Ukraine-Russia Battles Rage (Worthy News Radio)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

KYIV/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukraine said Wednesday that its forces entrenched themselves on the outskirts of Urozhaine after recapturing the settlement in the Donetsk region of Russian troops. The announcement came while a merchant ship left the Ukrainian port of Odesa, despite concerns Russia could target vessels in the Black Sea amid attacks that reportedly killed several people.

Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, announced on social media that Ukrainian troops managed to, in her words, “liberate” the village of Urozhaine in the Donetsk region.

But she added that offensive operations continue as part of a counteroffensive against invading Russian forces.

Earlier Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky visited the south-eastern region of Zaporizhzhia and met troops fighting in the counteroffensive against Russian forces.

Yet Kyiv faces an uphill battle as Russian attacks continue. Ukrainian authorities said three people were killed and several were wounded, and buildings were damaged in a large-scale air attack on Ukraine’s western region of Lviv and the north-western region of Volyn.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Safovyi said, “Many missiles were shot down,” but he admitted there were also hits in his city. He added that orders were given to evacuate at least one burning apartment building.

The barrage came just hours before top Russian military officials, and their counterparts from allied countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa gathered outside Moscow for a security conference.

On Wednesday, Ukraine’s air force said a large group of Russian army drones entered the mouth of the Danube River and headed toward the Izmail river port near the border with Romania, a member of the Western NATO military alliance.

RESIDENTS IN SHELTER

The governor of the southern Odesa region, Oleh Kiper, asked residents of the Izmail district to take shelter but canceled the air raid alert one hour later.

But despite ongoing Russian attacks against ports, a merchant ship left the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Wednesday despite concerns Russia could target vessels in the Black Sea. The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte had been trapped in the port since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, officials said. The ship left as Kyiv said Russian air strikes damaged grain storage facilities in Reni, a river port on the Danube river, about 260km (160 miles) south west of Odesa.

Kyiv has announced a “humanitarian corridor” in the Black Sea after a deal collapsed last month, allowing it to export, but Moscow declined to provide security guarantees to the arrangement.

And Ukraine apparently hit back with Russia’s defense ministry saying it shot down three Ukrainian drones southwest of Moscow, the latest in a surge of aerial attacks near the capital.

Ukraine also announced fortifications and military infrastructure in northeast regions that border Russia and Belarus at a cost of nearly $35 million dollars.

However, it receives Western support from Sweden, which announced Tuesday that it would donate to Ukraine ammunition and spare parts for previously granted weapon systems worth over $300 million.

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