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Russia strikes port facilities in Ukraine’s Odesa region: officials

24.07.2023 10:15
Russia attacked port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region with  drones overnight on Monday, destroying a grains depot and injuring six port workers, according to officials.
Damaged port infrastructure on the Danube River in the Odesa region, southern Ukraine, after a Russian drone attack, on Monday, July 24, 2023.
Damaged port infrastructure on the Danube River in the Odesa region, southern Ukraine, after a Russian drone attack, on Monday, July 24, 2023. PAP/EPA/OPERATIONAL COMMAND 'SOUTH' HANDOUT

The strike was carried out with the Iranian-made Shahed-136 unmanned aerial vehicles, Polish state news agency reported.

“Russian forces attacked port infrastructure in the Odesa region, southern Ukraine, with Iranian-made drones; four port employees suffered injuries,” said Vladislav Nazarov, the spokesman for Ukraine’s southern group of forces.

The number of people wounded in the attack was later revised to six, according to news outlets.

Nazarov added on the Telegram social messaging app that the drone assault had targeted port infrastructure on the Danube river, lasting almost four hours. 

Ukraine’s air defences had destroyed three UAVs, the PAP news agency reported.

The attack destroyed a grains depot and damaged containers used for storage of various goods, according to officials. 

A fire broke out in one of the production premises, and has already been put out, the PAP news agency reported.

UAVs hit two buildings in Moscow 

Two buildings in Moscow were hit by drones and debris was found near the defence ministry’s premises, the Reuters news agency reported on Monday,citing Russian media.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that two non-residential buildings had been hit at around 4 a.m., but added that there was “no serious damage or casualties,” according to Reuters. 

Russia’s defence ministry said that two unmanned aerial vehicles “were suppressed and crashed,” and accused Ukraine of a “terrorist” attack.

The two buildings struck by drones are situated in the Komsomolsky Avenue in central Moscow and in the Likhachev Avenue in the southern part of the city, according to news outlets.

The purported strike comes after Russia’s repeated attacks on Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa, where on Sunday Moscow’s missiles killed one person, wounded scores more and inflicted serious damage on the city’s historic Orthodox cathedral, the Reuters news agency reported.

Russia began targeting Ukraine’s Black Sea grain facilities after quitting the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an export deal designed to avert a global food crisis, The Kyiv Post website reported. 

Moreover, a helicopter-type UAV without an explosive device fell in the Zelenogradsky district of the Moscow region, but no one was injured, local emergency services said, according to Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

Ammunition depot in Crimea attacked by Ukrainian drones: Russian officials  

Ukrainian drones struck an ammunition depot in the city of Dzhankoy, in the Russian-occupied Crimea Peninsula, early on Monday, according to Crimea’s Moscow-installed governor, the PAP news agency reported.

Sergei Aksyonov said that Russia’s air defences had shot down or electronically jammed 11 drones  over the area, adding that a residential building was also damaged in the area, according to Reuters.

Ukraine has liberated 227 square kilometres of territory in summer counteroffensive: deputy defence minister

Ukraine has so far reclaimed some 227 square kilometres of its territory from the Russian invaders during the ongoing summer counteroffensive, the country’s deputy defence minister has said.

Hanna Malyar announced the latest figures on Telegram on Monday, the PAP news agency reported.

The deputy defence minister said that Ukraine’s troops had so far liberated over 192 square kilometres of land in southern Ukraine, including more than 12 square kilometres over the past week.

Malyar added that Ukrainian forces had also retaken 35 square kilometres in the direction of the Russian-held city of Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine, including some 4 kilometres over the past week, the PAP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting continued in five directions over the past day, with Ukrainian and Russian forces clashing in 35 combat engagements, Ukraine’s state Ukrinform news agency reported on Monday morning, citing the country’s General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.

Monday is day 516 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

(pm)

Source: PAP, Reuters, The Guardian, Ukrinform, Ukrainska Pravda, Kyiv Post