Russia continues assault on Ukrainian port city of Odesa
Mike Brest
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Russian forces continued their nearly weeklong assault on Odesa, a port city in southern Ukraine, after Moscow withdrew from an agreement to allow the export of Ukrainian grain.
From Thursday night into Friday morning, Russian missiles struck grain warehouses, destroying tons of crops in what was the fourth consecutive night of these sustained attacks.
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“The terrorist country continues to attack Odessa region,” Oleh Kiper, head of Odessa regional military administration, said on Telegram. “The target is an important infrastructure facility. The Russians fired 7 missiles on it. Unfortunately, there is damage.”
Kiper also noted that the strikes “destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley,” while two people were injured in the strikes.
Russian leaders have said they now consider vessels in the Black Sea to be involved in aiding Ukraine, which was one of the largest grain exporters in the world prior to the war.
Also on Friday, the Russian ministry said one of its naval ships fired a cruise missile at a target vessel and destroyed it as part of a drill.
The United Nations and Turkey first brokered the Black Sea agreement last July to stop a growing global food shortage that had been caused by Russia’s refusal to let Ukrainian exports leave for months. Kremlin officials ultimately withdrew from the deal, arguing that they had not received adequate benefits in exchange for their participation.
The U.N. Security Council is meeting on Friday to discuss the impact of Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement.
In the roughly one year since the deal was first enacted, more than 32 metric tons of grain have left the port.
The Biden administration warned on Thursday that Russia is considering a possible false flag operation in the Black Sea, in which it would blame an incident in the port it committed on Ukraine.
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“Information indicates that Russia has laid additional sea mines in the oceans to Ukrainian ports,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Thursday, adding that they believe it’s a “coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and then blame them on Ukraine.”
The administration, as it has in the past, downgraded and declassified intelligence regarding this possible false flag operation in an attempt to deter Russia from carrying it out.