Russia has launched a missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Odesa less than a day after signing an agreement to resume grain shipments from the port.
On 24 July during a media briefing Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov commented: “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.”
On Telegram later that day the ministry noted that a Ukrainian army repair and upgrade plant has also been put out of order.
Public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not significantly damaged the port.
The move comes following a pact signed 22 July agreeing not to attack grain shipments from the seaports of Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny for a period of at least 120 days.
Despite the attack, Ukraine will be moving ahead with efforts to restart grain exports from Odesa and other Black Sea ports.
Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov commented on Facebook: “We continue technical preparations for the launch of exports of agricultural products from our ports”.
