Reuters :
Germany on Friday condemned missile strikes near the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, saying attacks on civilians were war crimes.
“The Russian President (Vladimir) Putin and those responsible will have to be held accountable,” a German government spokesman told a briefing.
Missiles rained near Odesa on Friday, hitting an apartment building and a resort and killing at least 19 people, hours after Russian troops were driven off the nearby Snake Island. Russian denies targeting civilians.
“The Russian side, which is once again talking about collateral damage, is inhumane and cynical,” said German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.
Most of the victims were in the apartment block in the village of Serhiivka in the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, about 80 kilometres south of the city of Odesa.
Regional emergency official Ihor Budalenko said a missile struck the building at about 0100 local time (midnight CET), killing 16 people.
He added that 41 people had been rescued from the building where 152 lived. The number of victims rose to 19 by Friday afternoon, and it might be even higher as work was ongoing to find people who could still be trapped.
One section of the building was completely destroyed, while the walls and windows of a neighbouring, 14-storey block were damaged by the blast wave.
“We came here to the site, assessed the situation together with emergency workers and locals, and together helped those who
survived. And those who unfortunately died. We helped to carry them away,” said Oleksandr Abramov, who lives nearby and had rushed to the scene when he heard the blast.
Another three people, including one child, were killed in strikes that hit nearby holiday resorts, officials said.
