Moscow says it destroyed Ukrainian military targets in Odessa

Russia confirmed, Sunday, that its strikes the day before destroyed a Ukrainian military ship and missiles launched by the United States in the port of Odessa, which is vital for the export of Ukrainian grain.

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“High-precision long-range missiles launched from the sea destroyed a docked Ukrainian military ship and a stockpile of Harpoon anti-ship missiles delivered by the United States to the Kyiv regime,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

“The ship repair plant of the Ukrainian army has also been decommissioned and modernized,” the ministry said in a statement posted on its Telegram account.

Earlier in the day, Russian diplomatic spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a Ukrainian “military star” had been destroyed during the strike.

And she wrote on Telegram, in response to a statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which she said that “the Kalibr missiles destroyed the military infrastructure in the port of Odessa, with a high-precision strike,” saying that these strikes destroyed the possibility of dialogue or agreement with Moscow.

Neither the Russian military nor Maria Zakharova provided evidence to substantiate these statements. Agence France-Presse was unable to confirm these statements from an independent source.

After these shots in Odessa, Ukraine accused Vladimir Putin of “spitting in the face” of the United Nations and Turkey and waiving the implementation of the agreement signed Friday on the resumption of grain exports halted by the conflict.

However, on Saturday, Russia denied Turkey’s involvement in the strikes, and Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said: “The Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack and that they are studying the matter closely.”

According to the spokesman of the Ukrainian Air Force, two missiles hit the Odessa port territory, and two others fell by anti-aircraft defenses before reaching their target.