On Wednesday, a missile landed in close proximity to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in the Black Sea port of Odesa. The Russian attack, which claimed five lives, took place while both leaders were in the vicinity inspecting the port and the damage it incurred. Mr Zelenskiy berated the Russian military during a subsequent joint press briefing with Mr Mitsotakis in Odesa, stating that they either had no control over their armed forces or were simply not rational.
The missile hit was experienced shortly after the two statesmen were about to enter their vehicles, according to Mr. Mitsotakis who was with the Ukrainian president at the time. Protothema, a Greek website, reported earlier on Wednesday that President Zelenskiy’s motorcade experienced a near-miss from the missile, landing around 150 metres from the Greek team. No officials were harmed during the incident.
The European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, denounced the Russian attack. In a statement, the Russian ministry of defense asserted achieving a successful hit on a hangar sheltering Ukrainian naval drones, although this claim is unverifiable.
The Ukrainian navy has utilised naval drones extensively to launch counterattacks on Russian vessels in the Black Sea. On Wednesday, Russia brushed off the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Sergei Kobylash and Viktor Sokolov. The two Russian commanders were wanted for missile attacks on Ukraine’s power infrastructure. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, explained that Moscow didn’t acknowledge the warrants as Russia is not a party to the Rome Statue, the treaty which established the ICC. Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, opined that the arrest warrants were merely an attempt to tarnish Russia’s reputation.
“The most recent fallacious discharges from this entity are, to us, void of any influence and hold no legal weight,” Ms Zakharova informed journalists. Previous year in March, the ICC circulated warrants for the detainment of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, along with the Russian Commissioner for Children, Maria Lvova-Belova. They were both charged with war crimes linked to the kidnapping of children from Ukraine. The Kremlin had, back then, denounced those warrants as preposterous. Russia consistently refutes any acts of war crimes committed in Ukraine. – Reuters/Bloomberg