Moscow, Russia – The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Thursday that its armed forces had conducted concentrated air and naval strikes using high-precision weapons overnight. These strikes directly targeted vital military infrastructure facilities in the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. In an official statement carried by news agencies, the Ministry of Defense explained that the Russian armed forces continued their intensive and successive airstrikes overnight. They employed highly accurate, air-launched guided weapons. Simultaneously, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were used to achieve their objectives with high precision.
Destruction of port facilities and drone workshops
The statement added that these concentrated strikes, targeting the port of Odessa, specifically the state-owned Odessa Sea Trade Port, caused significant damage to the port’s infrastructure. Military reports indicated that the port is primarily used for unloading and storing military shipments. These shipments are destined for Ukrainian forces.
The ministry further stated, in its account of the operations, that in the city of Odessa itself, Russian drones targeted a workshop specializing in the production of drone components. This workshop was intended to supply the Ukrainian armed forces with combat aerial equipment. Additionally, a main warehouse for storing these drones and their equipment was destroyed.
Context of military operations and losses of Western equipment
It should be noted that the Russian armed forces continue to target and bombard Ukrainian ports and their associated infrastructure almost daily. Moscow insists that these ports are being used by the Ukrainian armed forces for military and logistical purposes. These operations are part of the Russian special military operation launched on February 24, 2022. The operation is officially aimed at protecting the population of the Donbas region. It is also meant to secure Russian strategic interests in the face of growing security and military threats in the region.
Over the years of the conflict, Russian forces managed to destroy vast quantities of advanced military equipment and vehicles that Western countries had relied upon to support Kyiv. Among the most prominent of these were German-made Leopard 2 tanks. In addition, significant numbers of American and British armored vehicles and various combat vehicles supplied by NATO countries were destroyed. This equipment ultimately met its end under successive Russian strikes.
