Lately, Russia pulled out of an international grain deal in
place since last summer, guaranteeing safe passage for exports across the Black
Sea. The Kremlin argued its demands for Russian exports had not been honored.
Within hours of its withdrawal from the grain deal on
Monday, Russia struck the southern port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv in the
early hours of Tuesday. It was followed by more strikes overnight into
Wednesday, targeting grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa and
further down the Black Sea coast in Chornomorsk, two of the three ports that
were included in the export deal.
Odesa
military spokesman Serhiy Bratchuk called it a “truly massive attack”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said each missile
strike was a blow not just to Ukraine but to “everyone in the world striving
for a normal and safe life”.
Ukraine’s
reconstruction ministry published a series of photos showing damage to silos
and other grain facilities.
Russian
war commentators said the damage proved that Kyiv was unable to shoot down the
majority of Russian missiles and drones.
Officials said the coordinated attack involved Kalibr cruise
missiles, Onyx supersonic and Kh-22 anti-ship missiles as well as kamikaze
drones, fired from the Black Sea, Crimea and southern Russia.
Although 37 Russian missiles and drones were shot down, a
number did penetrate Ukrainian defenses, they said.
Russia
had called its initial attack on Odesa a mass revenge strike for an attack on
the Russian-built bridge over the Kerch strait linking occupied Crimea to
Russia. Seaborne drones were blamed for Monday’s bridge strike that knocked out
a section of bridge and killed a Russian couple.
Russian-installed officials also shut a 12km (7.5 mile)
section of the Tavrida motorway that links the cities of Simferopol and
Sevastopol in southern Crimea to the bridge over the Kerch strait. Construction
of the road by Russia’s occupation authorities began in 2017.
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