Russia launches 4th aerial attack in a week against Ukraine's grain-exporting Odesa region

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A nighttime Russian missile strike on Odesa killed at least four people including a 16-year-old girl, regional authorities said Friday, in the latest in a series of attacks this week on the southern Ukrainian region that are likely intended to disrupt the country’s grain exports.

Four Russian missile and drone attacks on the Odesa region this week have killed 14 people and wounded around 20, according to local officials. The strikes have hit merchant ships and damaged port infrastructure in the region, which is a vital hub for Ukraine’s agricultural exports through the Black Sea.

An attack on Odesa late Wednesday killed nine people and hit a container ship sailing under the Panamanian flag — the third attack on a merchant vessel in four days, according to regional Gov. Oleh Kiper.

The apparent Russian effort to frustrate Ukraine’s exports, which bring vital revenue for a national economy battered by more than two years of war, coincided with a renewed push by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ensure continuing military and financial support from his country’s Western partners.

Ukraine’s stretched and short-handed army is currently under heavy pressure in the country’s eastern Donetsk region. Russian forces recently pushed it out of the Donetsk town of Vuhledar and are now in control of about half of nearby Toretsk, local administration chief Vasyl Chynchyk said Friday. To stop the losses, Zelenskyy needs to secure more help.

Russia last year tore up an agreement that allowed Ukraine — one of the world’s biggest suppliers of grain and other food staples, especially to developing nations — to export produce safely through the Black Sea.

Months later, and amid successful Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Black Sea fleet which forced its navy to back away from the coast, Ukraine established a shipping corridor that hugs the coast down to Turkey and opens a way to the Mediterranean Sea.

A special insurance program has provided affordable coverage to shippers who have carried millions of tons of cargo out of Ukraine, but the latest attacks could jeopardize that arrangement.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, Emergency workers provide first aid to a wounded resident after a Russian missile attack that killed four, injured ten in Odesa, Ukraine, late Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, Emergency workers carry a wounded resident after Russian missile attack in Odesa, Ukraine, late Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Four Russian missile and drone attacks on the Odesa region this week have killed 14 people and wounded around 20, according to local officials. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, Emergency workers carry a wounded resident after Russian missile attack in Odesa, Ukraine, late Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Four Russian missile and drone attacks on the Odesa region this week have killed 14 people and wounded around 20, according to local officials. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, Emergency workers carry a wounded resident after Russian missile attack in Odesa, Ukraine, late Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. Four Russian missile and drone attacks on the Odesa region this week have killed 14 people and wounded around 20, according to local officials. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, right, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pose for photographers after the press conference, at Villa Pamphilj, in Rome, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Stellantis, which makes Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, announced a number of significant leadership changes, including the timing of CEO Carlos Tavares' retirement and the departure of its chief financial officer as it struggles to revive sales in North America.

Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight will be replaced by Doug Ostermann, the company's chief operating officer in China. In addition to naming Ostermann's replacement in China, Stellantis also appointed a new chief operating officer in Europe.

Stellantis is the world's fourth largest automaker and in September it announced that it was looking for a successor for Tavares, 66, as part of a planned leadership change. Tavares’ five-year contract was a little over a year from its expiration date in 2026, but the company said at the time that it was possible he might remain in the job beyond that.

The company said late Thursday that Tavares will step down in early 2026.

Tavares has been under fire from U.S. dealers and the United Auto Workers union after a dismal financial performance this year, caught off guard by too many high-priced vehicles on dealer lots. Tavares has been trying to cut costs by delaying factory openings, laying off union workers and offering buyouts to salaried employees.

Stellantis slashed its earnings forecast last month, saying it needed to make larger investments to turn around its U.S. operations amid a wider industry slump and increased competition from China.

Stellantis said at the time that it was accelerating efforts to improve operations in North America, bringing dealer inventory levels to no more than 300,000 vehicles by the end of the year, instead of the first quarter of 2025 as previously planned.

Stellantis was created in 2021 through the merger of PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. It said in a statement that the formal process to find Tavares’ successor has already begun. The process is being led by a special committee of the board and will finish its work by the fourth quarter of 2025.

Shares of Stellantis fell more than 3% before the market opened on Friday.

FILE - Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares speaks during a news conference following a meeting with unions, March 31, 2022, in Turin, Italy. Tevares will retire in early 2026 and Chief Financial Officer Natalie Knight is stepping down as the world's fourth biggest automaker contends with ongoing sales difficulties in North America. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP, File)