Weapons supplied by the United States that were stored in the city of Odesa were struck by Russian forces, Moscow said in a statement on Monday. A crucial military airfield in the city was also destroyed by Russian missiles, the statement added.
In a counter-statement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke about the airstrip in Odesa being destroyed. However, he did not refer to any damage sustained by United States-supplied weaponry.
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Russia’s defense ministry said that it used high-precision Onyx missiles to strike the airstrip. No parties reported any injuries or deaths connected to the strike.
Local authorities urged residents of the area to shelter in place as Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, citing army sources, reported that “several” explosions were heard in Odesa, according to reports from Associated Press.
Maksym Marchenko, the regional governor of Odesa, said that Russia had used Bastion missiles, which were launched from the previously annexed region of Crimea, according to reports from Reuters.
The statement from Moscow also said that Russian forces used their air defense systems and brought down two Ukrainian Su-24m bombers over the Kharkiv region overnight.
“The occupiers again shelled the Dnipropetrovsk region and Odesa with missiles. Again and again, Russian troops proved that the people of Odesa are the same enemies for Russia as all of the Ukrainians”, Ukrainian President Zelensky said in a recorded message.
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“The runway of Odesa airport was destroyed. We will, of course, rebuild it. But Odesa will never forget such Russian attitude towards it”, Zelensky added.
Ukraine, meanwhile, said that rescue operations from the city of Mariupol were underway as thousands of civilians remain in the city. The Azovstal steel plant, the last remaining holdout for Ukrainian forces in the city, is reportedly at the heart of the rescue operations. Dozens have been taken out of the city so far and have been moved to a safer locations.