Ukraine has accused Russia of missile attacks on the Black Sea region of Odessa. The city council of Odessa, citing the southern command of the Ukrainian army, announced on Sunday that two Russian “Iskander” missiles had been shot down from the Crimean peninsula. According to the Odessa regional administration, the projectiles fell in a quarry. No information was given about possible victims. There was initially no official reaction to the allegations from Moscow. The information could not be independently verified.
The Odessa region is home to all three ports through which grain will soon be exported across the Black Sea again as a result of a recent agreement. Since the war began more than five months ago, the southern Ukrainian region has repeatedly been the target of Russian attacks. (dpa)
It will probably not be possible to prevent Ukraine from suffering a fate similar to that experienced in other war zones. What must not happen, however, is to confuse cause and effect. Your own utility bills don’t increase that much because Ukrainian soldiers are defending themselves against a merciless attacker. Butter prices don’t go up because people between Odessa and Kharkiv are fighting for their freedom. Keeping reminders of this will be one of the most important tasks that serious media will have to deal with in the future. Being remembered is the even more important task of those who care about the world.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it has not yet been given access to the site in eastern Ukraine where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed on Friday. The incident in Olenivka was condemned, a statement said. “Families need to know and get answers as soon as possible about what happened to their loved ones.” (Reuters)
The war in Ukraine has had a massive impact on the country’s harvest and thus on grain supplies worldwide. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted on Sunday that the current year’s yield will be only half as high as usual.
Meanwhile, Turkey expects the first grain freighter to depart from a Ukrainian Black Sea port on Monday. Russia mainly bombed cities in southern Ukraine on Sunday.
According to Zelenskyy, Ukraine is bracing itself against a global food crisis triggered by the Russian invasion. Like Russia, the Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters. However, the ports on the Black Sea such as Odessa cannot be used as usual due to the blockade by Russian forces since the beginning of the war at the end of February. This has already led to rising prices and shortages in some primarily poorer countries. (Reuters)
According to Russian reports, the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet was attacked with a drone in the city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula, which according to international law belongs to Ukraine. Six people were injured on Sunday, said the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Rasvozhayev, in his blog on the Telegram news channel. The Ukrainian Navy has denied the attack on Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
In reality, the Russians, fearing Ukrainian attacks, did not dare to hold the “Navy Day” celebrations there as planned, according to a message published on Facebook. “And in order not to embarrass himself in front of the whole world because he (the enemy) fears the armed forces of Ukraine, he invented a reason to cancel the events.”
The Russian side had canceled the celebrations in Sevastopol, which were held in many regions of Russia, with reference to the alleged Ukrainian attack. “Early this morning, Ukrainian nationalists decided to spoil our Navy Day,” wrote Governor Razvozhayev. The drone had hit the courtyard of the headquarters, said Rasvoschajew and showed photos of the destruction.
The injured are staff members of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. There are no dead. “I ask that you remain calm and stay at home if possible,” Rasvozhayev wrote. The domestic secret service FSB and the responsible authorities worked to clarify the case. (dpa)
