Russia-Ukraine war: At least 21 dead in Russian missile attack on Odessa residential buildings

First responders try to extinguish flames at a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo / AP

Russian missile attacks on residential buildings in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa early Friday (local time) killed at least 21 people, including two children, authorities reported, a day after Russian forces withdrew from a strategic Black Sea island.

Video of the pre-dawn attack showed the charred remains of buildings in Odessa.

The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Kirill Tymoshenko, said 21 people died, including two children. A spokesman for the Odessa regional government, Serhiy Bratchuk, said on the Telegram messaging app that another 30 had been injured.

Ukrainian news reports said the target of the missile attack was a multi-storey apartment building and a recreational area.

First responders work in a damaged residential building in Odessa, Ukraine. Photo / AP

The assault comes after Russian forces pulled out from Snake Island on Thursday, potentially easing the threat to Odessa, it was initially thought. But they kept up their push to encircle the last stronghold of resistance in the eastern province of Luhansk.

The Kremlin portrayed the pullout from Snake Island as a "goodwill gesture". Ukraine's military claimed it forced the Russians to flee in two small speedboats following a barrage of Ukrainian artillery and missile strikes. The exact number of troops was not disclosed.

Snake Island sits along a busy shipping lane. Russia took control of it in the opening days of the war in the apparent hope of using it as a staging ground for an assault on Odessa.