Odessa attack: one girl among four killed in Russian strike on Ukraine

Viktoriia Roshchyna had been briefly detained in Berdyansk, in the east of the country, in 2022, but she disappeared in the occupied east in August 2023 and it was only last spring that Russian authorities confirmed her detention.

Ukrainian intelligence said she was believed to have been included in a prisoner exchange and Russian reports said she died on September 19 while being transferred to a detention center in Moscow.

The latest Russian strikes on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast took place as Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky continued his tour of European capitals.

After talks in London, Paris and Rome, Zelensky met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Friday before heading to Berlin, where he was to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Zelensky is promoting a “victory plan” to end the war, but has denied discussing any sort of ceasefire.

“The key is to strengthen Ukraine’s positions and relations with our closest partners, ensuring necessary conditions and a fair atmosphere for honest diplomacy,” he wrote on Twitter after talks with the Italian Giorgia Meloni.

Russian forces continue to advance in eastern Ukraine and on Friday authorities in the strategically important hilltop town of Toretsk said only 40 to 50 percent of the city remained under Ukrainian control .

Ukrainian troops are outnumbered and outgunned and are also under pressure in Pokrovsk. Both cities are considered vital for maintaining the army’s supply lines.