Russia hit a civilian ship under the flag of Liberia near Odessa, there are dead and wounded

2023-11-08 20:43:57

On November 8, Russian troops launched a missile attack on a civilian ship flying the flag of Liberia during its docking in one of the ports of the Odesa region, as a result of which one person was killed and three were injured, the press service of the Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine reported. The Ministry of Defense of Russia did not comment on the attack.

“The rocket hit the superstructure of a civilian ship under the flag of Liberia at the moment of its arrival at the port. Three members of the crew – citizens of the Philippines – were injured, one of them was hospitalized. The pilot was killed, another port worker was injured,” said the statement of the Southern Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the statement of the USU, the attack was carried out by an anti-radio-location missile Kh-31P from a tactical aviation aircraft of the Russian Space Forces, which was over the Black Sea.

According to the Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure of Ukraine, Alexander Kubrakov, the vessel attacked by the Russian military was supposed to transport iron ore to China. He also clarified that the strike on a civilian vessel was Russia’s “21st targeted attack” after Russia’s withdrawal from the grain agreement, which damaged 160 infrastructure facilities.

Russian troops intensified their shelling of the Odesa region in the summer of 2023, when Russia officially withdrew from the agreement on the organization of the grain corridor, through which grain from Ukraine was sent by sea through Turkey to foreign countries. Since then, Russian troops have been attacking Odessa’s port infrastructure with missiles and kamikaze drones almost every week. Nevertheless, Ukraine created temporary corridors in the Black Sea, through which foreign ships began to enter the ports of the Odesa region from mid-September. Kyiv then also stated that there is still a threat from the Russian army on the route. The first container train, which was in Odessa since February 2022, left the port on August 16.

Russia’s war against Ukraine

At 5 o’clock in the morning February 24, 2022 The head of Russia, Vladimir Putin, announced the start of a military operation against Ukraine in the Donbass at the request of the “DPR” and “LPR” groups. On February 21, during a televised address to Russians, Putin called the so-called “DPR” and “LPR” independent states within the regions. On February 22, the Federation Council ratified this decision. Russian troops attacked, including from the territory of Belarus, using airfields, bases and roads. Representatives of Lukashenka’s regime justify the war, his opponents consider the territory of Belarus to be occupied, many call for resistance to the Russian invaders. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least 34 Belarusians fighting for its independence have died. Contrary to Putin’s statements about attacks only on military facilities, the Russians are bombing schools, kindergartens and residential areas of Ukrainian cities. According to the UN, as a result of the full-scale war, about 8 million residents of Ukraine became refugees. On April 2, 2022, after the liberation of the town of Bucha near Kyiv, photojournalists published dozens of photographs showing hundreds of dead people, victims of mass murders committed by Russian troops. Many are buried in spontaneous mass graves. The Russian occupation also brought great destruction to the people of Barodyan. During the six months of the war, Russia was able to occupy about 20% of the Ukrainian territory. In March 2022, the area of ​​occupied land reached 30%. However, at the end of the month, Russian troops retreated from the north of Ukraine, as well as from most of the Kharkiv region. At the end of August, Crimea, Luhansk and Kherson regions were completely occupied. And also 50% of the territory of the Donetsk region, about 70% of the Zaporizhia region, approximately 30% of the Kharkiv region. Since February 24, Russia has captured only one regional center – Kherson. Russian troops retreated from it and from the right-bank part of the Kherson region in November 2022. The city was occupied by Russian troops in the first days of the war without actually fighting. In the fall of 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a large-scale counteroffensive, as a result of which Russian forces left most of their positions in the Kharkiv region. Despite Putin’s initial statements that the occupation of Ukrainian territories was not part of the invasion plans, on September 30, 2022, the annexation of four regions of Ukraine (Donetsk, Zaporozhye, Luhansk, and Kherson), including territories that Russia did not control, was announced. On September 21, 2022, Putin announced the mobilization in Russia. After this statement, thousands of Russians went to the border crossings and began to leave for Georgia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Mongolia, Finland and other countries. In Russia itself, opponents of the war set fire to several military commissariats. In 2023, Lukashenko and Putin announced the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus. On June 13, Lukashenka gave an interview to Russian propagandist Volga Skabeeva, from which it appeared that some of the nuclear weapons had already been delivered from the Russian Federation to Belarus. On June 16, Putin also said that the first nuclear charges have already been delivered to the territory of Belarus, and the rest will be moved “by the end of the summer or the end of the year.” On August 1, Lukashenka said that more than half of the tactical nuclear weapons planned to be deployed on Belarusian territory have already been “imported and dispersed” across the country. He has repeatedly stated that he will use nuclear weapons in case of aggression against Belarus. In June 2023, Ukrainian troops began counteroffensive operations in the east and south of the country. Russian troops prepared well-fortified defense lines, so the advance of the counteroffensive proceeded with significant losses. On September 3, Ukrainian Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnovsky said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine broke through the first line of defense on the Zaporizhia direction, on which the Russians spent the most resources.
It is not always possible to independently verify information about military actions provided by officials of various parties.