Damaged port infrastructure Moscow: destroyed in Odessa Harpoon missile attack
7/27/2022, 9:59 am (updated)
Ukrainian ports cannot be stopped by the Russian attack on Odessa. They are getting ready to export grain. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is giving more details: in addition to a ship repair shop, a warehouse with American weapons was also hit during the bombing.
Russia has admitted the attack on the port city of Odessa in southern Ukraine. A Ukrainian military ship and a warehouse with US-supplied Harpoon missiles were destroyed, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram. A ship repair shop was also rendered useless. According to Turkey, Moscow on Saturday denied any involvement in the air strikes.
In the meantime, three ports on the Black Sea have nevertheless begun to prepare the transports. The authority responsible for sea ports announced that work is underway to restart the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny. Under the agreement reached in Istanbul on Friday, convoys of ships would be prepared to export grain by sea, he said. A caravan is formed, which must be led by a lead ship. The authority asked shipping companies To their ships for this. Preparations continued despite Russian missile attacks.
“The Russians have told us that they have nothing to do with this attack and that they are investigating the matter very closely,” Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said. Now, the Kremlin has apparently moved away from that representation. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Telegram that “military infrastructure” was destroyed in the “high-precision” Kalibr cruise missile attack. Later, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the attack. Russia did not provide evidence for the statements. They cannot be independently verified.
Grain stocks were spared
The port of Odessa was bombed on Saturday just a day after a grain export deal was signed. According to Ukrainian information, the port infrastructure was damaged. Grain was also stored there at the time of the attack, but stockpiles were apparently unaffected by the bombing. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack as “blatant Russian barbarism”. On the other hand, the attack brings Ukraine “even closer to the objective of obtaining the weapons we need for our victory”, he added in a video message late on Sunday. Kyiv had previously said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “spit in the face” of the United Nations by bombing Odessa and was jeopardizing the implementation of the agreement on the export of blocked grain shipments.
The attack was also condemned internationally. For example, the US government questioned Russia’s credibility. The attack raised “serious doubts” about Russia’s involvement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday. “This undermines efforts by the UN, Turkey and Ukraine to bring essential food products to world markets.” The UN and Turkey have been mediating for months between Kyiv and Moscow to secure the resumption of Ukrainian grain deliveries, which had been blocked since the beginning of the war. An agreement was reached on Friday, among other things, for safe transit routes in the Black Sea. The warring parties agreed not to attack ships on these routes.
Odessa is the main Ukrainian port on the Black Sea coast. The city is one of three places specifically named in the Grain Agreement as a hub for grain exports. Initially, it was unclear whether the agreements, which according to Russian statements are expected to take effect in the “next days”, have now expired. Elsewhere in Ukraine, the Russian army continued its unabated bombardment over the weekend. The Ukrainian Presidential Office reported attacks in the east and south of the country on Sunday. In the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, four cruise missiles hit residential areas on Saturday. Five people were injured.
(This article was first published on Sunday, July 24, 2022.)