Ukraine Live Updates: Russia Launches Strikes on Southern Ukraine After Crimea Bridge Attack
Image Workers removed part of a missile from a hole in the roof of a building in Odesa on Tuesday. Credit... Igor Tkachenko/EPA, via Shutterstock
Explosions thundered in Odesa before dawn on Tuesday as Russia targeted the port city with a barrage of missiles and drones, a day after the Kremlin said it was suspending its participation in an agreement allowing the safe passage of grain ships from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
Moscow pulled out of the deal hours after explosions hit the only bridge linking the occupied Crimean Peninsula to Russia, a major supply line for Russian troops. President Vladimir V. Putin had vowed retaliation for the attack, which the Kremlin blamed on Ukraine, and on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said it had carried out a strike against “facilities where terrorist acts against Russian troops were prepared.”
But Ukraine said the strikes were an effort by Russia to deter shipments of grain from Ukrainian ports after the Kremlin pulled out of a deal that ensured safe passage for approved vessels. Odesa is Ukraine’s largest and most important port and played a vital role in the export of grain under the deal.
For nearly two hours on Tuesday, Ukrainian air defense teams raced to shoot down drones launched from Crimea and cruise missiles fired from warships on the Black Sea. All six cruise missiles fired at Odesa were shot down by air defenses, but debris from the downed missiles and the blast wave from the interception damaged port infrastructure and homes, the Ukrainian military said. The Ukrainian military said 21 drones aimed at the port had also been shot down overnight. “It has been quite a long time since there was an attack with various types of sea- or air-based missiles,” Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, said at a news conference Tuesday. The Black Sea has repeatedly become a flashpoint in the war because of its strategic importance for Russia and its status as a vital trade corridor for Ukraine’s food exports. The attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge linking Crimea and Russia marked the second time in 10 months that it was successfully targeted. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said that the damage would “likely have continuing ramifications on Russian logistics in southern Ukraine.” Russia said Ukrainian forces struck the bridge using maritime drones. Ukraine has made no secret of its efforts to build a formidable fleet of surface and underwater unmanned vessels, but Ukrainian officials did not publicly take responsibility for the attack. Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine, said that the bridge was a legitimate target. On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the strikes on Odesa targeted the launching points for Ukrainian maritime drones “as well as at places where they were manufactured in the Odesa area.” Ukrainian officials said the strikes on the port city were meant to send a different message: that Moscow would continue to hold the world ransom as it blockades Ukraine’s ports. Andriy Yermak, the head of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, said the attack showed that Moscow was using the global food crisis as a weapon. “The world must realize that Russia’s goal is to starve and kill people,” he said. In addition to the strikes aimed at Odesa, Ukrainian air defenses also intercepted four drones over the port city of Mykolaiv, according to the Ukrainian military. A total of 36 drones were launched at Ukraine, 31 of which were intercepted, according to the Ukrainian air force. Officials did not give details on any strikes caused by the drones that were not shot down. At the same time, Russia’s Defense Ministry said that Ukraine had launched 28 drones at the Crimean Peninsula, all of which were intercepted by Russian air defenses or electronic jamming. There were no casualties or damage, according to the ministry.
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Source: The New York Times
