Russia launches strike on Odesa in retaliation for Crimea Bridge attack

MOSCOW: In a purported act of retaliation, Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles overnight at the Ukrainian port city of Odesa, CNN reported. Russia has cited Ukraine's attack on the Crimea bridge for launching a strike on Odesa.

Russian Defense Ministry said, "Tonight the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group retaliation strike with precision sea-based weapons against facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using uncrewed boats, as well as the place where they were being manufactured at a ship repair plant near the city of Odessa,” the ministry said, using the Russian spelling for the southern city," according to CNN.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that it had intercepted all six Russian Kalibr cruise missiles launched at Odesa and the "vast majority" of Iran-made Shahed attack drones.

On Monday, the Russian government said that two Ukrainian seaborne drones were responsible for the attack on the bridge that connected the annexed Crimean peninsula and Russia's mainland.

As per the news report, the nearly 12-mile crossing, also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest in Europe. The Kerch Bridge holds strategic and symbolic importance for Russia. The attack carried out on the bridge on Monday was the second since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine started in February last year.

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian security official claimed that Russia is responsible for an attack on the bridge linking the annexed Crimean Peninsula to the Russian mainland, CNN reported.

A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told CNN that the attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not received authorization to speak on the record, as per CNN. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed a ‘response’ against what he called a “terrorist attack”, CNN reported on Monday.

He also ordered to increase the security at the 19-kilometre (12-mile) Kerch Bridge. “Tonight another terrorist attack took place against the bridge,” Putin said in a meeting with officials Monday.

“Due to the terrorist attack, the roadway on several spans of the Crimean Bridge was seriously damaged. As a result, both car and railway traffic were temporarily stopped,” CNN quoted Putin as saying.

The Russian President called on his country’s authorities, including the FSB, to investigate the incident and asked for measures to secure the "strategically important transport facility" from future strikes.“It is necessary to comprehensively assess the damage caused and start restoration work as quickly as possible," he added.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Monday announced Moscow will not renew the agreement, saying it "has been terminated." The deal had allowed Ukraine to export grain by sea, as per the CNN report.

In withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that its government was removing guarantees for safe navigation in the Black Sea, according to CNN.

Russian Foreign Ministry in the statement said, "This means the withdrawal of guarantees for the safety of navigation, the curtailment of the maritime humanitarian corridor, the restoration of the regime of a temporarily dangerous area in the northwestern Black Sea and the disbandment of the JCC [Joint Coordination Center] in Istanbul. Without Russia's participation, the Black Sea initiative ceases to function from July 18.