Last night, residents of the port city of Odesa could hear several explosions. Local authorities say there were “wave after wave” of attack drones from the Russian side. About 21 Russian drones are said to have been shot down. The night’s attack has damaged port infrastructure facilities in Odesa, according to the Ukrainian military, reports AFP. “The rest of the downed missiles and the blast wave from the downing damaged the port’s infrastructure,” says Ukraine’s operational command in a statement. In the last 24 hours, there have been attacks against Odesa, the Crimean peninsula and the Kerch Bridge. It is not clear how extensive the damage is, but a number of residential buildings are said to have been affected and one person is said to be injured. CNN was in town and was able to report that the anti-aircraft sirens went off. Shortly after, they heard four large explosions. Images from CNN show searchlights in the sky above the port area, and objects falling down. Tonight’s attack is part of a larger attack against southern Ukraine. The flight alert also went off in the cities of Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, Kirovograd and Cherkassy last night, according to Reuters. Withdraw from the grain deal The attack comes shortly after the grain deal was officially terminated after Russia did not extend it. The agreement has made it possible for Ukraine to safely export grain via the Black Sea. It is from the ports in the Odesa region that grain and other foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine by sea. According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine will continue grain exports on its own. – Even without Russia, everything must be done so that we can continue to use the Black Sea corridor, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a group of African journalists on Monday. Zelenskyy says that only the agreement between Russia, Turkey and the UN has ended, and that the agreement between Ukraine, Turkey and the UN still applies. Facts about the grain agreement When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the navy blockaded the country’s ports in the Black Sea. Grain agreement ensured the safe transport of grain and foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports, along a corridor in the Black Sea. The agreement was put in place with the help of the UN and Turkey in 2022 and expired on June 17, 2023. Russia will not extend the agreement because their conditions have not been met. Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of sunflower, corn and wheat. In particular, several developing countries in Africa and the Middle East are dependent on imports of Ukrainian grain. He further says that several shipowners are ready to send ships to Ukrainian ports to pick up grain, but he does not say anything about how ships and cargo should be insured in a war zone without security guarantees. The grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine has ended after Russia chose not to renew it. Photo: AP Attack on the Crimean Bridge On Monday, the Kerch Bridge, also known as the Crimean Bridge, was destroyed. Images from social media show that a section of the bridge has split and tilted to one side. A Russian pair of parents is said to have died, while their daughter was injured. Photo taken from Twitter to show the damage from the bridge to the Crimean peninsula. Photo: TWITTER Russia accuses Ukraine of being behind the attack, with unmanned water drones during the night. This is what anonymous Ukrainian sources say to the AFP news agency. The Kerch Bridge is strategically important for Russia, because it connects the annexed Crimean peninsula with the Russian mainland. President Putin calls the attack an act of terrorism. Russia also claims that last night it prevented a Ukrainian drone attack in Crimea. According to the Russian Ministry of Defence, Russian forces have shot down 28 Ukrainian drones over the Crimean peninsula on the night of Tuesday. – 17 drones launched by Ukrainian forces were destroyed, and 11 drones were launched using electronics, says a statement from the Ministry of Defence. No one is said to have been injured in the incident. The information has not been confirmed by independent sources. Fierce fighting in Ukraine Reuters writes that large concentrations of Russian forces are on the offensive in northeastern Ukraine and are involved in fierce fighting, according to the Ukrainian authorities. – For two days in a row, the enemy has been actively on the offensive in Kupjansk in the Kharkiv region. We defend. Fierce battles are ongoing and the positions of both sides change dynamically several times a day, says Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Telegram. Map of the Ukraine war 18 July 2023. Photo: “INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR AND AEI’S CRITICAL THREATS PROJECT / news Map of the Ukraine war 18 July 2023. Photo: “INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR AND AEI’S CRITICAL THREATS PROJECT / news Spokesman for the Ukrainian military, Serhiy Cherevatyj, tells Ukrainian TV that the Russian military has gathered more than 100,000 soldiers and over 900 tanks in the area. The news agency Reuters has not been able to verify the claims.
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