Russia Says It Struck Two Ukrainian Cargo Vessels in the Black Sea as Odesa Port Is Hit

Russia’s defence ministry said on Monday that its forces had struck two Ukrainian cargo vessels in the Black Sea, in the latest attack on shipping and port infrastructure around Ukraine’s Odesa region.

According to the ministry, Russian forces hit fuel storage facilities at the port of Chornomorsk that it said were intended to supply Ukraine’s armed forces, along with a dry cargo vessel it said was carrying military equipment. A second dry cargo vessel transporting military supplies was hit south of the city of Odesa, the ministry said, and the Kochetok electrical substation in the Kharkiv region was also struck.

Fires in Odesa, one killed in Kharkiv

Oleh Kiper, the governor of Ukraine’s Odesa region, said on the Telegram messaging app on Monday that massive Russian air strikes had targeted industrial and port infrastructure in the region, and that all of the fires caused by the attacks had been extinguished so far.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, a Russian air strike late on Sunday killed one person and injured six others, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. The Russian defence ministry said it had hit Vylkove port, fuel depot facilities in Chornomorsk and cargo vessels in the Odesa region, as well as a power station in the Kharkiv region, which it said were used for military purposes.

Shipping under fire in the Black Sea

The claims, which could not be independently verified, come days after Moscow said it would intensify strikes on Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine, responding to an interview in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed to step up attacks on Russian oil refineries.

Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on the other side’s grain vessels in the Black Sea in recent months, according to Reuters, while Ukrainian drones and shelling have continued to hit Russian refineries and border regions. Both sides deny targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.

Ukraine’s Black Sea ports around Odesa are the country’s main gateway for grain and other exports, and repeated strikes on port infrastructure and shipping have added to pressure on Kyiv’s economy as the war grinds through another autumn. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Moscow of trying to strangle those exports; Russia says its strikes are aimed at military targets and at facilities supplying Ukraine’s armed forces.

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters.