FOX NEWS
Russia launched a massive strike on Ukrainian grain and export infrastructure after pulling out of an international grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export across the Black Sea.
Russian missiles and drones hit targets along Ukraine’s Black Sea coast overnight and into Wednesday morning, with an Odesa military spokesperson calling the strikes a “truly massive attack,” according to a report from the BBC.
The strikes were the second consecutive night of attacks on the region and came after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that had been in place since last summer allowing Ukrainian grain exports to reach countries that face the threat of hunger. The Kremlin claimed that its exports demands under the deal were not being honored and pulled out of the deal just hours before launching the attacks.
Russian launched a second day of ‘massive’ strikes against targets in Ukraine. (Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure / UKRAINE’S STATE EMERGENCY SERVICES VIA FACEBOOK (Reuters.))
“A difficult night of air attacks for all of Ukraine,” Serhii Popko, the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, said in a social media statement, according to the Associated Press.
Popko said that the attacks around Ukraine’s port infrastructure injured at least 12 civilians, though there were no reported deaths.
According to Ukrainian officials, the Russians launched Kalibr cruise missiles, Onyx supersonic and Kh-22 anti-ship missiles, and kamikaze drones. Ukrainian forces were able to shoot down about 37 of the missiles, according to officials, but many did manage to make their way through defenses.
“I saw a red flash in the window and reacted immediately,” a resident in Odesa told Reuters. “I went downstairs, it was noisy and filled with smoke outside, people were in panic, some were crying, glass shards were scattered all over. It was impossible to remain in the area.”
