Russia Says Strike On Odesa Port Destroyed Ukraine’s Military Infrastructure
Russian missiles destroyed Ukraine’s military infrastructure in a reported strike on Ukraine’s port of Odesa, essential for grain exports, a foreign ministry spokeswoman from Russia informed on 24 July.
The 23 July strike came a day after Moscow and Kyiv signed a landmark agreement hammered out over several months of negotiations to mitigate a worldwide food crisis.
Maria Zakharova reported that Kalibr missiles destroyed the military infrastructure in the port of Odesa with a high-precision strike. She said this on Telegram in response to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said dialogue with Moscow was seemingly becoming untenable following the attack.
Zakharova said that the strike destroyed a Ukraine-based “patrol boat.”
On Saturday, Ukraine accused Russia’s President Putin of having “spit in the face” of the deal to unblock grain exports reportedly brokered by Turkey and the UN.
Zelenskyy claimed the strikes on Odessa reflect that Moscow cannot keep its word.
But Turkey reported on Saturday that Russia denied attacks on the port.
Hulusi Akar, the Turkish Defence Minister, said that the Russians reportedly informed that they had nothing to do with the attack and were checking the issue closely.
The Western allies of Ukraine, including Britain and the US, condemned the attack.
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, reportedly said that the attack cast doubts on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to the deal.
The military of Ukraine had reported that its air defenses were able to shoot down two cruise missiles, but two more again hit the port on Saturday.
References: Republic World, The Hindu
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