KYIV: Eight people were killed and 27 wounded in a Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa, southern Ukraine, late on Friday, Ukraine’s Emergency Service said.
Some of the wounded were on a bus at the epicenter of the strike, the service said in a Telegram post Saturday. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot and cars were also damaged.
The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.
Moscow did not immediately acknowledge reports of the deadly attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday morning that over the previous day, it had struck unspecified “transport and storage infrastructure used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” along with energy facilities and those supplying Kyiv’s war effort.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian drones hit a Russian warship, oil rig and other facilities, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Saturday.
The nighttime attack on Friday hit the Russian warship “Okhotnik,” according to the statement posted to the Telegram messaging app.
The ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. The extent of the damage is still being clarified, the statement added.
A drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field in the Caspian Sea was also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian government or Lukoil. The company is one of two Russian oil majors — alongside state-owned Gazprom — targeted by recent US sanctions that aim to deprive Moscow of oil export revenue that helps it sustain the war.
Kyiv has used similar arguments to justify months of long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, which it says both funds and directly fuels the Kremlin’s all-out invasion, soon to enter its fifth year.
8 dead and dozens wounded in Russian strike on Ukraine’s Odesa port
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8 dead and dozens wounded in Russian strike on Ukraine’s Odesa port
- The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region
India finalizes third free trade pact this year with New Zealand deal
- Under FTA, all Indian goods will get duty-free access to New Zealand market
- Latest deal shows Delhi ‘expanding trade relations rapidly,’ Indian trade minister says
NEW DELHI: India and New Zealand have concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement, their prime ministers announced on Monday, marking New Delhi’s third such deal this year with a developed nation as it seeks to diversify its export market.
Negotiations on an FTA between India and New Zealand formally began in March 2025 during the visit of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to the South Asian nation. The two countries reached a deal after five formal discussion rounds over the course of nine months — New Delhi’s fastest with a developed country.
Under the pact, 100 percent of Indian goods will get duty-free access to the New Zealand market, while bilateral trade is expected to double in five years from the current $2.4 billion.
“This historic milestone reflects a strong political will and shared ambition to deepen economic ties between our two countries,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X.
“This FTA ensures: enhanced market access, deeper investment flows and numerous opportunities for innovators, entrepreneurs, farmers, MSMEs, students and youth.”
The tax-free exports will benefit labor-intensive sectors in India, including textiles, apparel, leather, footwear, marine products, gems and jewelry, and engineering goods, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.
New Zealand has also committed investments worth $20 billion in India over a period of 15 years as part of the agreement.
“The FTA reduces or removes tariffs on 95 percent of our exports to India,” Luxon wrote on X.
“India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and this gives Kiwi businesses access to 1.4 billion Indian consumers.”
The New Zealand deal demonstrates how India is “expanding trade relations rapidly” with countries that complement the Indian economy rather than compete with it, Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said during a press briefing in New Delhi.
India has accelerated discussions to finalize several trade agreements in recent months, with advanced talks ongoing with the EU and Chile, among others.
The move comes as Indian exporters face pressure from hefty US tariffs, which went into effect in August.
“The government is trying its best to finalize the FTA with different countries because the US … is giving big trouble to us,” Lalit Thukral, president of the Noida Apparel Export Cluster, told Arab News.
“Our garment industry is in very bad shape because of this tariff system … Everybody is losing money. They are running factories because they want to keep their labor.”
With the US being India’s biggest export market, the 50 percent tariffs on Indian goods have weighed on sectors such as textiles, auto components, metals and labor-intensive manufacturing.
The latest free trade deals will at least help “cover up our losses,” Thukral said.
Last week, India signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Oman, which allows India to export most of its goods without paying tariffs, covering 98 percent of the total value of India’s exports to the Gulf nation.
Delhi also signed a multi-billion-dollar free trade pact with London earlier in July, which gives around 99 percent of Indian goods duty-free access to the UK market.
