Kyiv [Ukraine], July 20: Russia has launched a massive missile and drone attack on Odessa for the second night in a row, in what was described as the biggest attack since the start of the war on the southern port city at the heart of Ukraine's now-defunct grain export deal.
Also in the south, large quantities of ammunition blew up at a Russian military compound on annexed Crimea, Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing a correspondent on site. Russian President Vladimir Putin was briefed about the incident, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Ukrainian President VolodymyrZelensky linked the massive Russian attacks on port facilities in Odessa on Tuesday night to the end of the grain agreement.
"Russian terrorists are absolutely deliberately targeting the grain agreement infrastructure, and every Russian missile is a blow not only to Ukraine, but to everyone in the world who aspires to a normal and safe life," he wrote on Telegram on Wednesday.
The military has been instructed to better protect port infrastructure, he said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry should work on increasing international pressure for the "continuation of the normal export of Ukrainian grain," Zelensky added.
Russia halted the agreement to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea on Monday. On Tuesday night, the Russian military attacked port facilities in the Odessa region with missiles and drones for the second consecutive day and there were reports of airstrikes in other areas as well.
The Russian Defence Ministry described previous attacks as retaliation for damage to the bridge to the annexed Crimean peninsula, which was suspected to have been caused by Ukrainian drones.
In Odessa, military targets and important infrastructure facilities were hit, the Ukrainian Air Force said. In total, the Russian army deployed more than 31 missiles of different types on Wednesday morning. Slightly more than half could not be intercepted. Of 32 Russian combat drones deployed, 23 were shot down, according to a Ukrainian statement.
Port facilities with a grain terminal and a cooking oil terminal were hit, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Southern Command said. Tanks and loading facilities were also damaged. In the Odessa city area, storage buildings were also destroyed, it said. In addition, a fire had broken out on an area of 3,000sqm.
Odessa was previously the main point of departure for Ukrainian agricultural exports under the grain agreement, which Moscow has revoked. Russia believes that Odessa is the command centre for attacks by floating drones that damaged the bridge to the Moscow-occupied Crimean Peninsula on Monday.
"We haven't seen such a big attack since the beginning of the large-scale [Russian] invasion." Odessa Mayor HennadyTrukhanov wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.
There were also reports of flying objects intercepted in the Kiev, Mykolaiv and Sumy regions. In the western Ukrainian region of Zhytomyr a critical infrastructure object was hit, according to authorities. There were also missile strikes in the central Ukrainian region of Kirovohrad.
Meanwhile in eastern Crimea, TASS published a video taken in daylight showing chains of explosions of ammunition. Similar videos, but made during the night, had been circulating online since earlier in the morning. The video implied the explosions were lasting for hours.
Earlier, a fire in the Russian military compound forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 people from four villages, the administration head Sergei Aksyonov said on Telegram.
Source: Qatar Tribune