Attack On Ukrainian Port Only Hit Military Targets – Russia

Russian defence ministry officials have said that an attack on the port of Odesa – less than a day after Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on resuming grain shipments from the port – only hit military targets.

“In the seaport in the city of Odesa, on the territory of a shipyard, sea-based high-precision long-range missiles destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied by the US to the Kyiv regime,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing on Sunday.

“A Ukrainian army repair and upgrade plant has also been put out of order,” the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

Earlier on Sunday, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russian Kalibr missiles destroyed a Ukrainian “patrol boat” in the attack.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly televised address Saturday evening that the attack on Odesa – one of three designated export hubs under the deal – “destroyed the very possibility” of dialogue with Russia.

The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that Moscow had attacked Odesa’s sea port with four cruise missiles, two of which had been shot down by Ukrainian air defences.

Command spokeswoman Nataliya Humenyuk said that no grain storage facilities were hit. Turkey’s defence minister, however, said he had had reports from Ukrainian authorities that one missile struck a grain silo while another landed nearby, although neither affected loading at Odesa’s docks.