Russia confirms strike on Odesa port

The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed the missile strike on the Odesa sea trade port in its daily bulletin.

“High-precision sea-based long-range missiles destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse storing anti-ship Harpoon missiles delivered to the Kyiv regime by the US on the territory of a shipyard at the sea port of the city of Odesa,” the bulletin reads.

According to the ministry, the strike “disabled the production capacity of a shipyard belonging to the Ukrainian Navy”.

Yesterday, Ukraine reported that Russia had attacked the Odesa port with Kalibr missiles. According to Operational Command South of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the country’s air defence took down two of the missiles, while two others hit the port’s infrastructure objects, which caused a fire on the premises.

Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesperson of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian army, said that the strike had targeted the part of the port that stored grain.

On 22 July, representatives of Russia, Turkey, and the UN signed an agreement regarding the exports of Ukraine’s grain via the Black Sea. The agreement does not imply that Ukraine’s sea ports be cleared of mines: ships will use safe navigation channels instead. A coordination centre will be set up in Istanbul where Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials will be represented. Full-fledged ship traffic will be established in a couple of weeks, the UN says.