Zelenskiy Calls On World To Help Ukraine Defeat 'Russian Evil' As Death Toll From Strike On Odesa Climbs To 12

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on March 3 for the world to help Kyiv defeat "Russian evil" as the death toll from a Russian drone strike on Odesa rose to 12, including several children.

"Every Russian loss at the front is our country's response to Russian terror. The world must respond to every manifestation of Russian evil and repel Russia's actions," Zelenskiy said after rescuers ended their search for victims in the rubble of the attack on Odesa.

He said later in his nightly video address that political will is required to make sure Ukraine has enough supplies, in an apparent reference to a crucial multibillion-dollar aid package that remains stalled in the U.S. Congress amid partisan bickering.

The war "must become hopeless for Russia.... They must sense that there is force that destroys those who seek to destroy life," Zelenskiy said.

"If this doesn’t happen and America [and] Europe lose to Iranian Shaheds or Russian jets, it will go down in history as one of the most shameful chapters. Evil should never be encouraged. Neither by weak decisions, delays in supplies, nor indecision," Zelenskiy said.

The Russian drone hit an apartment block in Odesa early on March 2, partially destroying several floors and leaving more than a dozen people under the rubble.

The attack killed at least four children, including two babies less than 1 year old, according to statements by Zelenskiy and the regional governor.

"Mark, who was not even 3 years old, Yelyzaveta, 8 months old, and Timofey, 4 months old," Zelenskiy said, naming the youngest victims on Telegram. "Ukrainian children are Russia's military targets."

The bodies of a 10-year-old boy and his 8-year-old sister were found under the rubble on March 3, regional Governor Oleh Kiper said.

Ukraine's emergency services said they had found the bodies of families huddled together as they sifted through the rubble.

"A mother tried to cover her 8-month-old baby with her body. They were found in a tight embrace," the agency said on Telegram.

March 3 has been declared a day of mourning in Odesa and the region for those killed during the drone attack on the city.

According to rescuers, 18 apartments of a nine-story building in Odesa were destroyed in the air strike that the Ukrainian Air Force said occurred overnight on March 2 and also hit the Mykolayiv region.

Zelenskiy on March 2 pleaded with Kyiv's Western allies to supply more air-defense systems as Russia continues to pound Ukraine with drones, missiles, and artillery fire while the civilian death toll continues to mount. The United Nations has verified at least 10,000 civilian deaths since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

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There was no comment on the attack in Moscow, which denies targeting civilians despite ample evidence of Russian strikes on residential areas.

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry reported a separate attack in the southern Kherson region that it said killed one person and wounded three others. Officials also reported an air strike on a residential quarter of Kurakhove, a town in the eastern Donetsk region, which injured 16.

Meanwhile, Russian military bloggers reported an attempted massive Ukrainian drone attack on the illegally annexed peninsula of Crimea.

Moscow said it shot down 38 Ukrainian drones, while the Rybar Telegram channel, which is close to Russia's armed forces, said one hit a pipeline at an oil depot.

An adviser to Crimea's Kremlin-installed leader said traffic was halted early on March 3 along a highway near Feodosia, the site of the earlier explosion. More than eight hours later, Crimea's local transport minister reported that traffic had partially resumed.

A bridge that connects Crimea to Russian territory was also closed to traffic for about two hours early on March 3.

With reporting by AFP and AP