Kyiv

Russian strikes on the Ukrainian city of Odesa continued overnight as missiles targeted the port infrastructure, the region's governor said on Thursday (July 27).

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Ever since Russia pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal earlier this month, attacks have intensified on Ukrainian cities. According to Governor Oleg Kiper, one person died in the overnight attacks where Caliber missiles were used. 

"At night, [Russia] launched a missile attack on the Odesa region. The target of the aggressor is the port infrastructure. The Russians fired Caliber missiles from a submarine in the Black Sea," wrote Kiper on Telegram. 

"A civil guard born in 1979 died as a result of the hit. The equipment of one of the cargo terminals was damaged, and a security building and two cars were destroyed. Sincere condolences to the family of the deceased."

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Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command said an overnight thunderstorm aided the Russian side in launching the attack. 

"The enemy took advantage of the weather conditions, and launched the missile during the thunder and wind and at an extremely low height in order to make spotting them more difficult," said the spokesperson.

According to senior Ukrainian officials, over the past nine days, Russia has damaged 26 port infrastructure facilities and five civilian vessels. Last week, a Chinese consulate in the port city was also damaged by the Russian strikes. 

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Watch: Ukrainian president aide admits counteroffensive will take long

Russia treating cargo vessels as hostile 

After pulling out of the deal which granted safe passage to cargo ships carrying grain shipments, Russia said it was keeping a close tab on the Ukrainian vessels, and would consider them as potential military targets.

Notably, on Thursday, Russia's FSB security service turned away a cargo ship bound for the port of Rostov-on-Don after finding "traces of explosives" on it. 

Also read | Chinese consulate damaged by Russian strike in port city of Odesa: Reports

The FSB stated the ship was coming from Turkey and had previously sailed to the Ukrainian port of Reni. 

"A decision was taken to prevent the ship's passage under the shipping arch of the Kerch Strait and it has been turned back from Russian territorial waters," it added.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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