On the night of Wednesday, Russia attacked the Ukrainian Odessa region, local governor Oleh Kiper said. It is the second night in a row that the area has been shelled since Moscow withdrew from the grain agreement.
– We are developing alternative methods and agreements to secure Ukraine’s global role as a food supplier, says President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The details of the night’s attack are still unclear, with Oleg Kiper, who urged residents in the area to stay indoors or in shelters, saying it was a “massive attack”. reports The Guardian.
But despite Russia targeting the Odessa area, which is also Ukraine’s most important port city, President Zelenskyi thus states that work is continuing to secure the country’s continued exports, partly to ensure the country’s role as a food supplier as well as to secure the country’s “access to the sea and the world market as well as jobs for Ukrainians in ports and in the agricultural industry,” he states.
Kyiv was also attacked
The capital Kiev was also exposed to Russian airstrikes during the night. According to the country’s military leadership, the Ukrainian air defense should have shot down all the drones that were used in connection with the incident.
Flight alarms should also have been activated in other regions around the country.
There is currently no information on injuries.
Fire at Russian base in Crimea
At the same time, there are reports that a fire has broken out at a Russian military base in the Kirovske district on the Crimean Peninsula. According to the Russian-installed governor Sergey Aksionov, an adjacent highway is to be closed, while around 2,000 people have been evacuated, The Guardian further reports.
“The operational headquarters has been deployed, all specialized services are working in place,” the governor writes in a post on the messaging app Telegram.
ISW: Consequences after the attack on the Crimean Bridge
On Monday, the Crimean Bridge was attacked, an event that President Putin calls a “terrorist act”. According to the American think tank Institute for the Study of War, ISW, the attack will likely have consequences for the Russian army in the area.
“The attack on the Kerch Strait bridge on July 17 is likely to have immediate consequences for Russian military logistics in southern Ukraine,” they write in their latest status update of the war.