Russia launched missile and drone strikes on southern and eastern Ukraine overnight that destroyed infrastructure in the Black Sea port of Odesa.
The strike was launched after a retaliatory pledge from Russia having pulled out grain export deal, which has become a global concern, according to Reuters.
Ukrainian officials, on Tuesday, said Russia bombed the grain port after blaming Volodymyr Zelensky’s country for blasting a bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula on Monday.
Ukraine’s air force said all six Kalibr missiles that were fired overnight, and 31 out of 36 drones, were shot down.
The missiles and most of the drones were downed over Odesa and Mykolaiv regions in the south, while the rest were destroyed over the eastern regions of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk.
Ukraine’s southern military command said falling debris and blast waves damaged several homes and unspecified port infrastructure in Odesa, but gave few details.
Meanwhile, there was no record of any deaths but an elderly man was wounded.
Odesa has often been attacked since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 although the port was part of the United Nations-brokered deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain that Russia ended on Monday.
The latest attack was “further proof that the country-terrorist wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential staff, said on Telegram.
Neighbouring Moldova condemned the attacks and Russia’s decision not to extend the Black Sea grain deal.
“Last night’s bombing of Odessa region, including the port, reveals Russia’s tactic of weaponizing food depriving those most in need,” Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said on Twitter.
