Seeks evacuation of wounded Mariupol fighters
\n KYIV
\nUkraine said it had damaged a Russian navy logistics ship near Snake Island, a small but strategic outpost in the Black Sea, while relatives of Ukrainian soldiers holed up in Mariupol\u2019s besieged steelworks pleaded for them to be saved.
\nRenewed fighting around Snake Island in recent days may become a battle for control of the western Black Sea coast, according to some defence officials, as Russian forces struggle to make headway in Ukraine\u2019s north and east.
\n\u201cThanks to the actions of our naval seamen, the support vessel Vsevolod Bobrov caught fire – it is one of the newest in the Russian fleet,\u201d said Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration.
\nReuters could not independently verify the details. Russia\u2019s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nSatellite imagery provided by Maxar, a private US-based company, showed the aftermath of what it said were probable missile attacks on a Russian Serna-class landing craft near the island, close to Ukraine\u2019s sea border with Romania.
\nImages also showed recent damage to buildings on the island, which became famous for the foul-mouthed defiance of its Ukrainian defenders early in the invasion.
\nRussia faced further setbacks on the battlefield as Ukraine drove its troops out of the region around the second largest city Kharkiv, the fastest advance since forcing the Kremlin\u2019s forces from Kyiv and the northeast over a month ago.
\nReuters journalists have confirmed Ukraine is now in control of territory stretching to the banks of the Siverskiy Donets River, around 40 km (25 miles) east of Kharkiv.
\nRegional authorities reported ongoing missile strikes around Poltava and shelling at Dergach, near Kharkiv, which killed two people.
\nIn the capital Kyiv, wives and relatives of Ukrainian fighters holed up in the Azovstal steel plant in the southern port of Mariupol marched and chanted for their rescue. Russian forces have been bombarding the steelworks, the last bastion of Ukrainian defenders in a city almost completely controlled by Russia after a siege of more than two months.
\n\u201cI want all the defenders who are there to return home so that they can live a normal life with their children and relatives,\u201d said Maria Zimareva, whose brother is inside the steelworks. \u201cThey have earned it. Why the others can walk in the streets with their loved ones and they cannot? Why nobody helps them?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seeks evacuation of wounded Mariupol fighters KYIV Ukraine said it had damaged a Russian navy logistics ship near Snake Island, a small but strategic outpost in the Black Sea, while relatives of Ukrainian soldiers holed up in Mariupol\u2019s besieged steelworks pleaded for them to be saved. Renewed fighting around Snake Island in recent days may […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[338,7248,456],"class_list":{"0":"post-260410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-russia","9":"tag-russian-ship","10":"tag-ukraine"},"yoast_head":"\n