New photographs show the damage sustained overnight in southern Ukraine after Russia launched a missile and drone barrage, Kyiv said, while Moscow separately reported several Ukrainian drone attacks within its borders.
Images published by eastern European outlet NEXTA show photographs of the Black Sea port city of Odesa before and after Russian missile strikes into Monday morning.
Ukraine’s military said Russia had launched 14 missile strikes using its Kalibr cruise missiles and Onyx anti-ship missiles at Ukraine overnight.
As well as 12 Kalibr and two Onyx missile strikes, Moscow launched 19 one-way Shahed drones at Ukraine, Kyiv’s air force said. Ukrainian air defenses shot down 11 of the Kalibr missiles and all of the Shahed suicide drones, the air force added.
Separately, Russia’s defense ministry said in a statement on Monday that its air defenses had intercepted two Ukrainian-operated drones over the Kursk region bordering northeastern Ukraine, as well as another two over the neighboring Bryansk region. A further four airborne drones were taken out in the Black Sea and over the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula, Moscow said.
Air defenses also destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region to the north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the Kremlin-backed Ria Novosti news agency reported.
Russian “kamikaze” drone strikes, typically using Iranian-designed Shahed-131 and -136 drones, quickly became a common feature of Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure early on in the now 19 month-old war. The slow-moving drones are seen as an inexpensive way for Russia to target Ukraine, and Ukraine’s air defenses can shoot down the drones relatively easily if they are spotted in time.
Odesa Regional State Administration
Moscow has frequently targeted Ukrainian cities with missile strikes, not least Odesa. The southern hub has come under increasing attacks since the Kremlin refused in July to renew a grain deal brokered by the United Nations that had secured the export of grain from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea.
The Russian-launched Kalibr cruise missiles were launched from the Black Sea, the Onyx missiles from Russian-controlled Sevastopol, and the Shahed drones from the Russian military base at Primorsko-Akhtarsk, Ukraine said on Monday. Over the previous 24 hours, Russia also launched three Lancet attack drones at Ukraine, the air force added.
One Kalibr missile was taken out over Ukraine’s Mykolaiv region, and another in the Kirovohrad region, Ukraine’s southern operational command said via a post to Telegram. The “vast majority” of the Kalibr missiles were intercepted over Odesa, the military added.
Oleg Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region, said a fire had broken out in a non-residential building in the Black Sea city after Russia targeted port infrastructure. A warehouse and a private residence were also damaged, and one civilian was injured, he said.
An unmanned aerial vehicle was also shot down over the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, causing a fire, local officials said.
Moscow often accuses Ukraine of launching drone strikes over Russian territory.
Ukraine has successfully targeted Russian air bases within Moscow’s internationally recognized borders. Kyiv has also carried out high-profile drone missions in Moscow.