Berlin, July 19, (dpa/GNA) – Russia has launched a massive missile and drone attack on Odessa for the second night in a row, in what was described as the biggest attack since the start of the war on the southern port city at the heart of Ukraine’s now-defunct grain export deal.
Also in the south, large quantities of ammunition blew up at a Russian military compound on annexed Crimea, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing a correspondent on site. Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed about the incident, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
In Odessa, military targets and important infrastructure facilities were hit, the Ukrainian Air Force said. In total, the Russian army deployed more than 31 missiles of different types on Wednesday morning. Slightly more than half could not be intercepted. Of 32 Russian combat drones deployed, 23 were shot down, according to a Ukrainian statement.
Port facilities with a grain terminal and a cooking oil terminal were hit, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Southern Command said. Tanks and loading facilities were also damaged. In the Odessa city area, storage buildings were also destroyed, it said. In addition, a fire had broken out on an area of 3,000 square meters.
Odessa was previously the main point of departure for Ukrainian agricultural exports under the grain agreement, which Moscow has revoked. Russia believes that Odessa is the command center for attacks by floating drones, that damaged the bridge to the Moscow-occupied Crimean Peninsula on Monday.
“We haven’t seen such a big attack since the beginning of the large-scale [Russian] invasion.” Odessa Mayor Hennady Trukhanov wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, linked the massive Russian attacks on port facilities in Odessa to the end of the grain agreement.
“Russian terrorists are absolutely deliberately targeting the grain agreement infrastructure, and every Russian missile is a blow not only to Ukraine, but to everyone in the world who aspires to a normal and safe life,” he wrote on Telegram.
The military has been instructed to better protect port infrastructure, he said, adding that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry should work to increase international pressure for the “continuation of the normal export of Ukrainian grain.”
There were also reports of flying objects intercepted in the Kiev, Mykolaiv and Sumy regions. In the western Ukrainian region of Zhytomyr, a critical infrastructure object was hit, according to authorities. There were also missile strikes in the central Ukrainian region of Kirovohrad.
Meanwhile in eastern Crimea, TASS published a video taken in daylight, showing chains of explosions of ammunition. Similar videos, but made during the night, had been circulating online since earlier in the morning. The video implied the explosions were lasting for hours.
Earlier, a fire in the Russian military compound, forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from four villages, the administration head Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.
The peninsula was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014.
Part of the main road across the peninsula from Simferopol to Kerch, in eastern Crimea, was closed and traffic was being diverted.
The fire affected the region around the town of Stary Krym in eastern Crimea. Aksyonov did not comment on the cause of the fire.
Videos were widely shared in social media, that purported to show the fire. The sound of ammunition exploding could be heard in the background.
Russia uses Crimea as a staging area for attacks on Ukraine. Kiev’s forces are trying to regain the Black Sea peninsula.
GNA