Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa was hit by Russian missiles overnight, destroying grain stores, the Ukrainian military said Monday. Russia “attacked the south of the country again”, the defence forces of the south of Ukraine said on the messaging platform Telegram. Regional governor Oleh Kiper said almost 1,000 tons of grain was stored in the facilities attacked.
Nataliya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for the Ukrainian southern military command, said Russia was apparently “trying to test out the density of the air defence. They understand that port infrastructure is a priority for our region, and that it is reliably protected. However, that is why the attack that occurred tonight was both massive and by combined means.”
Ukraine’s military said Russia directed 19 drones and 2 Onyx supersonic missiles at Odesa, and fired 12 Kalibr missiles. They claimed all 19 Shaheds and 11 Kalibrs “were shot down”.
Ukrainian sources are claiming that Russian Black Sea fleet admiral Viktor Sokolov died in the missile strike on Sevastopol on Friday. The claim has not been independently verified, and the Russian ministry of defence is yet to make any comment. Ukraine’s special forces claimed “Thirty-four officers were killed, including the commander of the Black Sea fleet. Another 105 occupiers were wounded.”
Three people have been killed and at least two injured in an attack on Beryslav in Kherson region.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has confirmed that his army had taken delivery of US Abrams battle tanks.
The Russian ministry of defence has reported that it destroyed Ukrainian drones that were over the north-western part of the Black Sea near occupied Crimea, as well as over the Kursk and Bryansk regions. It claims to have shot down eight aircraft-type drones in total. Russia unilaterally claimed to annex Crimea in 2014.
The Kremlin said it was “outrageous” the speaker of Canada’s House of Commons had praised an individual at a parliamentary meeting who served in a Nazi unit during the second world war. Canadian Speaker Anthony Rota apologised on Sunday after recognizing 98-year old Yaroslav Hunka as a “Ukrainian hero” before the Canadian parliament. Hunka, who served in the second world war as a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, received two standing ovations from lawmakers during a visit by Zelenskiy.
Hungary is not in a hurry to ratify Sweden’s Nato accession, the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, told parliament on Monday, flagging a further delay in a process that has been stranded in the Hungarian parliament since July 2022.
The US has imposed new trade restrictions on 11 Chinese and five Russian companies for various US national security issues, accusing some of supplying components to make drones for Russia’s war effort.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces says its fighters had repelled Russian attacks on two villages near Bakhmut over the weekend. Russian forces had “tried to restore lost positions near Klishchiivka … but were unsuccessful.”
The mayor of Russia’s Kursk had to cancel the Kursk City Day fireworks celebration after a Ukrainian drone struck an administrative building, damaging the roof.
Zelenskiy handed awards to two Polish volunteers during a stopover in Poland on Saturday but did not meet any officials amid strained relations between Kyiv and Warsaw over grain imports.
Pope Francis has said the weapons industry is a key driver of the “martyrdom” of Ukraine’s people in the war with Russia, saying countries should not “play games” by promising weapons and then withholding them as this would only continue their misery. The Associated Press reports that the pontiff appeared to refer to Poland’s recent announcement that it was no longer sending arms to Ukraine when reporters asked him about the war as he was returning to Rome from a visit to Marseille, France.
The Russian-installed head of the Donetsk oblast has imposed a curfew banning the presence of civilians on streets and in public places from 11pm until 4am from Mondays to Fridays, Reuters reported. Denis Pushilin published a decree on Sunday that forbade assemblies, rallies and demonstrations, in addition to other mass events, in the Russian-controlled parts of the Donetsk oblast – unless they were permitted by the local operational headquarters for military threat response.
