Overnight, Russia began missile and drone attacks on southern and eastern Ukraine, causing infrastructure damage in the major grain exporting port of Odesa on the Black Sea.
The assault comes after Russia threatened retaliation in response to a Monday explosion on a bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow blamed on Ukraine.
The Odesa port
According to the Ukrainian air force, 31 out of 36 drones and all six Kalibr missiles were shot down. The southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv saw the downing of the missiles and the majority of the drones, while the eastern regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk saw the destruction of the remaining drones.
Few details were provided by Ukraine’s southern military command, which claimed that blast waves and falling debris in Odesa had destroyed several homes and unspecified port facilities.
- Russia launches missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, damaging Odesa port.
- Ukraine’s southern military command reports Odesa home destruction.
- Senior man injured in Odesa port attack since Russia invaded Ukraine.
No fatalities have been reported, however, a senior man has been injured. Odesa has been targeted frequently since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, even though the port was included in the U.N.-brokered agreement permitting the safe export of grain to the Black Sea, which Russia withdrew from on Monday.
Andriy Yermak, the chairman of the presidential staff, cited the most recent incident as “further proof that the country-terrorist wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports.”
The attacks and Russia’s choice not to renew the Black Sea grain agreement were denounced by Moldova.
