Russia hits Ukraine’s Odesa port

Moscow [Russia]: Russian forces launched a drone attack and damaged a port on the Danube River in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region overnight, CNN reported on Wednesday citing a Ukrainian official.

In the Telegram, head of the Odesa regional military administration Oleh Kiper said, “The main target is port and grain infrastructure in the south of the region” on the Danube.
He further stated that no casualties were reported.

Ukraine’s Operational Command in the south said Russia hit the territory where one of the ports lie, destroying hangars with grain and agricultural machinery.

Ukraine’s Air Force on Wednesday said that it had destroyed 13 Shahed drones over Odesa and the neighbouring Mykolaiv region.

Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed that its forces have recaptured the village of Urozhaine in the eastern Donetsk region, where fierce battles have taken place in recent days, reported CNN.

“Ukrainian defence forces took control of Urozhaine,” and are consolidating their positions, Andrii Kovaliov, spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on national television Wednesday morning.

Urozhaine, located about 100 kilometres southwest of Russian-occupied Donetsk city, lies near the village of Staromaiorske, which Ukrainian soldiers recaptured about two weeks ago.

“Urozhaine was liberated,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram.

Last week also, on Sunday, Russia attacked Ukraine where a warship fired warning shots at a cargo ship, which Moscow claimed to be headed to Kyiv, in the south-western Black Sea, CNN reported citing the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russia said the warship fired warning shots when the captain of the Palau-flagged dry cargo ship failed to respond to a request to stop for an inspection.“The Russian warship opened warning fire from automatic small arms fire to forcefully stop the vessel,” the statement said.

The ministry claimed that the ship, named Sukra Okan, was headed to the Ukrainian port of Izmail. Marine traffic websites currently show the cargo vessel’s destination as the Romanian port of Sulina which is close to Izmail. Kyiv did not immediately comment on whether or not the ship was headed to a Ukrainian port, as per CNN.

“In order to inspect the bulk cargo ship, a Ka-29 helicopter with a group of Russian servicemen was hoisted from the patrol ship Vasily Bykov,” the ministry said.

“Following radio conversations, the ship stopped its course and the boarding team landed on the bulk cargo ship,” the statement said.