AFTER DENIAL; ADMISSION

Russia says strike on Ukrainian port hit military targets

Author

AP,

 

Publish Date

Mon, 25 Jul 2022, 

Smoke rises in the air after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo / AP

Russian defence officials insisted Sunday that an airstrike on the Ukrainian port of Odesa hit only military targets, but the attack tested an agreement on resuming grain shipments that the two countries signed less than a day before the assault.

Long-range missiles destroyed a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse holding Harpoon anti-ship missiles supplied by the US Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily briefing.

A man talks on a phone as smoke rises in the air after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo / AP

Speaking late Saturday in his nightly televised address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack on Odesa "destroyed the very possibility" of dialogue with Russia.

Under the grain-shipment agreement obtained by The Associated Press, both Kyiv and Moscow agreed not to target vessels and port facilities involved in the initiative, including the ports of Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.

The Ukrainian military said the attack involved four cruise missiles, two of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defences.

Command spokeswoman Nataliya Humenyuk said no grain storage facilities were hit. Turkey's defence minister, however, said he had had reports from Ukrainian authorities that one missile struck a grain silo while another landed nearby, although neither affected loading at Odesa's docks.

It was not immediately clear how the airstrike would affect plans to resume shipping Ukrainian grain by sea in safe corridors out of the ports.

Russia and Ukraine on Friday signed identical agreements with the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul aimed at clearing the way for the shipment of millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain, as well as the export of Russian grain and fertiliser.

Smoke rises in the air after shelling in Odesa, Ukraine. Photo / AP

Senior UN officials voiced hopes that the deal would end a months-long standoff that threatened food security around the globe.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities reported that Russian shelling continued to kill and wound civilians in Ukraine's south and east.

The governor of the eastern Donetsk region, one of two that make up Ukraine's industrial heartland of the Donbas and a key focus of Russia's offensive, said two civilians had been killed and two more wounded over the previous 24 hours.

Russian missiles have struck Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odesa just hours after Moscow and Kyiv signed deals to allow grain exports to resume from there. Photo / AP

The UK military reported Sunday in its daily intelligence update that Russia was making "minimal progress" in its Donbas offensive, which it said remained small-scale and focused on the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian military's General Staff confirmed in its regular update that Russia was "conducting military operations to create conditions" for an assault on Bakhmut, while firing on surrounding settlements and battling Ukrainian defenders for control of a nearby thermal plant.

In Ukraine's south, regional officials said that at least five civilians were wounded by Russian shells in the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

"Also, as a result of the scattering of munitions and their fragments, fires occurred in open areas in the city," said Vitaly Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region.

In other developments:

— A Washington-based think tank said Ukrainian forces are likely preparing to launch or have launched a counteroffensive in the Kherson region.

The Institute for the Study of War quoted Kherson Oblast Administration Adviser Serhiy Khlan as saying Ukrainian forces have seized unspecified settlements in the region, but he called on Ukrainian civilians to remain silent on the progress of the counteroffensive until Ukrainian authorities released official statements.

The ISW noted that open-source information on any progress by Ukrainian troops "will likely be limited and lag behind events."

Firefighters put out a fire in a port after a Russian missiles attack in Odesa. Photo / AP

— Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials as his country seeks to break diplomatic isolation and sanctions by the West over its invasion of Ukraine.

Lavrov landed in Cairo late Saturday on the first leg of his Africa trip, which will also include stops in Ethiopia, Uganda and Congo, according to Russia's state-run RT television network.

Speaking at a news conference following bilateral talks with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shukri, on Sunday, Lavrov said that he had "reaffirmed the commitment of Russian grain exporters to fulfil all their obligations" in the wake of the UN-backed deal to unblock grain shipments.

— Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a speech in Romania that Western sanctions against Russia have failed and that the war in Ukraine will not end "until there is a Russian-US peace negotiation".

Orban said Saturday in a speech in Baile Tusnad in central Romania that "a new strategy is needed which should focus on peace talks … instead of winning the war".

"The situation is that today we are sitting in a car with flat tyres on all four wheels," he said. "It is quite obvious that the war cannot be won this way. Ukrainians will never win a war against Russia with American training officers and weapons."

The far-right leader went on to say that had Donald Trump and Germany's Angela Merkel still been in charge in their countries, "then this war would never have broken out".

- AP

Russia Says it Struck Ukrainian Warship,

Harpoon Missiles Depot in Odesa

Sunday, 24 July, 2022 

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Press service of the Joint Forces of the South Defense/Handout via REUTERS

Asharq Al-Awsat

Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian warship and US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles in the Ukrainian port of Odesa, Russian news agencies quoted the defense ministry as saying on Sunday.

"A docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles were destroyed by long-range precision-guided naval missiles in Odesa seaport on the territory of a ship repair plant."

“It took less than 24 hours for Russia to launch a missile attack on Odesa’s port, breaking its promises and undermining its commitments before the UN and Turkey under the Istanbul agreement,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. “In case of non-fulfillment, Russia will bear full responsibility for a global food crisis.”

“The invaders can no longer deceive anyone,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

Zelenskyy denounced the strikes as blatant "barbarism" that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday's deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.

The Ukrainian military had said Russian missiles hit the southern port on Saturday.

It was not clear how Saturday’s Russian airstrikes would affect the plan to resume shipping Ukrainian grain by sea in safe corridors out of three Ukrainian Black Sea ports: Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Ukraine and Russia signed identical deals Friday with the UN and Turkey in Istanbul backing the plan.

Zelenskyy previously called the agreements “a chance to prevent a global catastrophe — a famine that could lead to political chaos in many countries of the world, in particular in the countries that help us.”

The head of Zelenskyy's office, Andriy Yermak, said on Twitter that the Odesa strike, coming so soon after the endorsement of the Black Sea deal, illustrated "the Russian diplomatic dichotomy.”

Russian Official Admits to Missile Strike on 

Odesa

July 24, 2022 
VOA News

A Ukrainian soldier, accompanied by a dog, keeps position on the front line in Mykolaiv 

region on July 23, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Russian missiles destroyed military infrastructure Saturday in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odesa, a site that is vital for the exportation of Ukrainian grain.

Maria Zakharova posted on her Telegram account "Kalibr missiles destroyed military infrastructure in the port of Odessa, with a high-precision strike."

Russia earlier had denied any involvement in the Saturday strike that came a day after Russia and Ukraine had signed agreements allowing Ukraine to ship millions of tons of grain out of its Black Sea port.

It was not immediately clear what caused the reversal of facts from a Russian official.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blasted Russia for jeopardizing the deal.

Zelenskyy said late Saturday in his daily address, “Today's Russian missile attack on Odesa, on our port, is a cynical one, and it was also a blow to the political positions of Russia itself. If anyone in the world could still say that some kind of dialogue ... with Russia, some kind of agreements are needed, see what is happening. Today's Russian Kalibr missiles have destroyed the very possibility for such statements.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed a similar sentiment in a statement, issued late Saturday.

“This attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to yesterday’s deal and undermines the work of the UN, Turkey, and Ukraine to get critical food to world markets,” the top U.S. diplomat said. “Russia bears responsibility for deepening the global food crisis and must stop its aggression and fully implement the deal to which it has agreed.”

“For 12 hours we dared to hope for relief of the global hunger crisis from shipments of Ukrainian grain,” David Miliband, CEO and president of the International Rescue Committee, said in a statement, also issued late Saturday.

“We have said it before; the war in Ukraine is a tragedy for Ukraine but also a global disaster for those in greatest need. This latest twist is as cruel as it is dangerous.”

Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not caused significant damage, and a government minister said preparations continued to restart grain exports from the country's Black Sea ports, according to Reuters.

The strikes drew strong condemnation.

“Yesterday, all parties made clear commitments on the global stage to ensure the safe movement of Ukrainian grain and related products to global markets,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement delivered by spokesperson Farhan Haq.

“These products are desperately needed to address the global food crisis and ease the suffering of millions of people in need around the globe. Full implementation by the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative."

U.S. Ambassador to Kyiv Bridget Brink called the strike "outrageous."

“The Kremlin continues to weaponize food. Russia must be held to account," she posted on Twitter.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called Russia’s actions “reprehensible.”

"Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of Istanbul agreements … demonstrates Russia's total disregard for international law and commitments," he said.

Zelenskyy said the strike on Odesa demonstrates that Moscow will find ways not to implement the grain deal.

This proves only one thing: no matter what Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it," Zelenskyy said in a video posted on Telegram.

Ongoing fighting

Elsewhere in Ukraine, a Russian missile attack on an airfield and a railway facility in central Ukraine on Saturday killed three people and wounded at least 13, according to local officials.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said early Saturday that in the previous 48 hours, heavy fighting had been taking place as Ukrainian forces continued their offensive against Russian forces in Kherson oblast, west of the Dnipro River.

In the statement posted to Twitter, the ministry said, “Russia is likely attempting to slow the Ukrainian attack using artillery fire along the natural barrier of the Ingulets River, a tributary of the Dnipro. Simultaneously, the supply lines of the Russian force west of the Dnipro are increasingly at risk.”

 

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking in Congo Republic, defended a missile attack on the Ukrainian port of Odesa that came a day after Moscow and Kyiv signed a deal to allow grain exports across the Black Sea.