The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed that on July 23 the Russian military carried out a missile attack on the port of Odessa.
The agency said in a statement that the strike was carried out by high-precision long-range missiles. The target of the Russian army was allegedly a Ukrainian warship and a warehouse of American anti-ship missiles Harpoon, which was in the dock of the port. “The production facilities of the enterprise for the repair and modernization of the ship structure of the naval forces of Ukraine have also been disabled,” writes the Ministry of Defense.
Before the Ministry of Defense, the shelling was confirmed by State Duma deputy Yevgeny Popov. On the BBC Newshour, he also said that the attack was on a warehouse with Harpoon missiles.
“We have not violated the Istanbul agreement. We just destroyed the military infrastructure of Ukraine – and we will do it again, ”Popov reported.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also said that Russian Kalibr missiles destroyed a military infrastructure facility in Odessa, “sending a Ukrainian military boat to the address beloved by the Kiev regime with a high-precision strike.”
The shelling of the Odessa port occurred the next day after Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the UN and Turkey, signed an agreement on the export of grain from blocked ports. It implies export from the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. According to the agreement, the grain will be able to depart from there, accompanied by Ukrainian ships. A prerequisite for this is a ceasefire.
