Russia targets Ukraine port, calls it payback for strike on key bridge to Crimea

By Associated Press: Ukraine mentioned its forces shot down Russian drones and cruise missiles focusing on the Black Sea port of Odesa earlier than daybreak Tuesday in what Moscow known as “retribution” for an assault that broken a vital bridge to the Crimean Peninsula.

The Russians first sought to put on down Ukraine’s air defenses by firing 25 exploding drones after which focused Odesa with six Kalibr cruise missiles, the Ukrainian army’s Southern Command mentioned.

All six missiles and the drones have been shot down by air defenses within the Odesa area and different areas within the south, officers mentioned, although their particles and shock waves broken some port amenities and some residential buildings and injured an aged man at his dwelling.

The Russian Defense Ministry mentioned its “strike of retribution” was carried out with sea launched precision weapons on Ukrainian army amenities close to Odesa and Mykolaiv, a coastal metropolis about 50 kilometers (30 miles) to the northeast.

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It destroyed amenities getting ready “terror attacks” towards Russia involving maritime drones, together with a facility at a shipyard that was producing them, the ministry mentioned. It added that it additionally struck Ukrainian gasoline depots close to the 2 cities.

It was not attainable to confirm the conflicting claims by each nations.

President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine on Monday for hanging the Kerch Bridge, which hyperlinks Russia with Crimea and was attacked in October 2022 and wanted months of repairs. The bridge is a key provide route for the peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Ukrainian officers stopped in need of instantly taking accountability, as they’ve performed in related strikes earlier than, however Ukraine’s high safety company appeared tacitly to confess to a job.

Satellite pictures taken Monday by Maxar Technologies confirmed critical injury to each eastbound and westbound lanes of the bridge throughout the Kerch Strait on the half nearest to the Russian mainland, with at the least one part collapsed. The railroad bridge that runs parallel to the freeway appeared undamaged.

The Russian army has sporadically hit Odesa and the neighboring area all through the struggle, however Tuesday’s barrage was one of many greatest assaults on the realm.

Ukrainian forces have been focusing on Crimea with drones and different assaults. Kyiv has vowed to reclaim it from Russian management, arguing that the peninsula performs a key function in sustaining the Russian invasion and is a official goal.

The onslaught additionally got here a day after Russia broke off a deal that had allowed Ukraine to ship very important grain provides from Odesa through the struggle. Moscow mentioned the choice was within the works lengthy earlier than the bridge assault.

Even so, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov alleged, with out providing proof, that the particular transport lanes and routes used for the grain transport beneath the deal have been abused by Ukraine.

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“Our military has repeatedly said that Ukraine has used these grain corridors for military purposes,” Peskov advised reporters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has mentioned Ukraine will proceed implementing the grain deal. Peskov warned that such motion was dangerous as a result of the area lies subsequent to an space the place there may be combating.

“If they try to do something without Russia, these risks must be taken into account,” Peskov advised reporters.

Zelenskyy mentioned grain exports by sea and port safety topped the agenda of his assembly Tuesday with senior army commanders and high authorities officers, including that he obtained studies on logistics and safety of the coastal areas.

Andriy Yermak, the pinnacle of Ukraine’s presidential workplace, mentioned Russia is endangering the lives of thousands and thousands of individuals around the globe who want Ukrainian grain exports. Hunger is a rising risk in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and excessive meals costs have pushed extra folks into poverty.

“The world must realize that the goal of the Russian Federation is hunger and killing people,” Yermak mentioned. “They need waves of refugees. They want to weaken the West with this.”

The United Nations and Ukraine’s Western allies slammed Moscow for halting the Black Sea Grain Initiative, saying it put many lives in peril.

USAID is giving Ukraine an extra $250 million to assist its agricultural sector as its chief, Samantha Power, visited Odesa and chided Moscow for its stance.

“Russia’s disruption of maritime commerce since the beginning of its full-scale invasion, including blockading ports, delaying ship inspections, and, most recently, withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, has severely choked the amount of grain Ukraine is able to provide to the world amid a global food crisis,” a USAID assertion mentioned.

The Kremlin mentioned the settlement can be suspended till Moscow’s calls for to raise restrictions on exports of Russian meals and fertilizer to the world are met. Peskov on Tuesday reaffirmed an earlier Kremlin pledge to offer particularly poor nations in Africa with grain totally free, including that the problem might be mentioned at a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg subsequent week.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry additionally mentioned its forces had foiled a Ukrainian assault on Crimea utilizing 28 drones.

The ministry mentioned 17 of the attacking drones have been shot down by air defenses and 11 others have been jammed by digital warfare means and crashed. It mentioned there was no injury or casualties.

Also Tuesday, satellite tv for pc pictures from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press confirmed {that a} convoy of autos arrived at a once-abandoned army base in Belarus, which was supplied to Russia’s personal army contractor, Wagner. That adopted a short-lived rebel final month towards the Russian Defense Ministry by Wagner’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin.

The pictures, taken Monday, present an extended line of autos coming off a freeway into the bottom close to the Belarusian city of Osipovichi, some 75 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of the capital, Minsk.

Belaruski Hajun, an activist group that screens troops actions in Belarus, mentioned a convoy of greater than 100 autos with Russian flags and Wagner insignia entered the nation, heading for the camp. The group mentioned it was the third Wagner convoy to enter Belarus since final week.