According to the army, cruise missiles were fired at the port. Two of them would have hit “port infrastructure”, a local government official and a Ukrainian army unit said on Telegram. Two other missiles were stopped by the anti-aircraft system, the army reports on Facebook. Odesa is one of Ukraine’s most important export ports on the Black Sea. Russia has not yet responded to the attack.
The Ukrainian government says in a response that President Vladimir Putin is “spitting in the face” of the United Nations and Turkey with the attack on Odessa, with which Kiev and Moscow closed their grain deal on Friday. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the UN and Turkey to ensure that Russia complies with the agreements.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said he “unequivocally condemns” the missile strikes. He emphasizes that the full implementation of the agreement by Russia, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative.
According to the European Union’s foreign minister, Josep Borrell, it is a “reprehensible attack”. “Bombing a crucial grain export port a day after the signing of the Istanbul Accords is particularly reprehensible and shows once again that Russia is completely flouting international law and its commitments,” he wrote on Twitter.