Ukraine: Bodies of mother, her baby found; death toll from Odesa strike reaches 10

The death toll from the Russian drone attack in Ukraine's Odesa city rose to 10, a figure which includes two babies, CNN reported citing Ukrainian officials on Sunday. This comes after the body of a child was pulled from the rubble along with that of her mother.

"The body of another baby has just been found next to the woman's body. The child is believed to be less than a year old," Oleh Kiper, the head of Odesa regional military administration wrote on Telegram. The bodies of a mother and her four-month-old were also found in the rubble on Saturday, authorities said.

The deceased woman's sister told CNN that the mother's name was Anna and she was a florist and a decorator. She was in her bedroom on the second floor of her apartment building when the strike happened. Her husband and daughter survived the drone attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his daily address to nation on Saturday, said that a toddler named Mark was also killed in Russian strikes - he was two, set to turn three on Sunday.

The attack left the front facade of an apartment block in ruins. Sunday has been declared a day of mourning in Odesa, according to the city's administration.

Zelenskyy said the attack showed the need to further strengthen the country's air defence capacities. "One of the enemy drones hit a residential building in Odesa. 18 apartments have been destroyed," Zelenskyy said on Saturday. "More air defence systems, more missiles for air defense is what saves lives."

Notably, Ukraine is requesting its western allies for more military aid as Russia's war against Ukraine entered its third year on February 24. Last week, Zelenskyy warned that "millions" could die if US lawmakers don't approve President Joe Biden's USD 60 billion aid request for Kyiv, hours after announcing some 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed so far in the conflict.

Republican leadership in the House has so far been refusing to hold a vote on providing more funding. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is weighing whether to tap into the last remaining source of funding it has for military aid to support Ukraine's war effort against Russia even without guarantees that those funds will be replenished by Congress, CNN reported citing multiple defence officials.