On Tuesday, the country’s authorities announced that Ukrainian anti-aircraft defenses successfully shot down six Kalibr cruise missiles during the attack.
The Operational Command South, in a Facebook post, stated: "Fractions of the downed missiles and the shockwave after they were shot down damaged port infrastructure facilities and several private buildings." The incident resulted in one person being injured.
Vladislav Nazarov, the spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the south, shared photos on Telegram showcasing the impact of the shelling near the Odessa Marine Station. The shelling damaged the nearby St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, as well as a hotel that has been closed for approximately a decade. The Odessa Marine Station, situated near the renowned Potemkin Steps on the city's seafront, was also affected.
Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's chancellery, linked the attack on Odessa and Nikolaev, another major city in southern Ukraine, to the issue of Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea. Russia recently withdrew from the grain agreement on July 17, which previously ensured the safe passage of ships carrying grain and agricultural produce departing from Ukrainian Black Sea ports.
Yermak wrote: "The overnight attack on Odessa and Nikolaev is one more proof that the terrorist country wants the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on food exports from Ukraine to be in danger." He further suggested that Russia aims to create waves of refugees to weaken the West.
Samantha Power, the U.S. aid chief, who announced a donation of over $500 million in humanitarian aid during her visit to Ukraine on Monday, had planned to visit Odessa on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Kremlin announced that it would pull out from a crucial agreement that facilitated Ukraine's grain exports, sparking concerns over global food supplies and undoing a rare diplomatic breakthrough that had emerged from Moscow's conflict with Ukraine.
The grain deal, initially negotiated by Turkey and the United Nations in July 2022, officially expired on Monday at 5 p.m. EST (midnight local time in Istanbul, Kiev, and Moscow).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters on Monday that Russia had no intention of renewing the pact, stating that it "has been terminated."
(jh)
Source: PAP, Reuters, BBC