Moscow launched a series of attacks on the port city of Odesa overnight in retaliation to Kyiv's attack on the Crimea bridge, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
“Tonight the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation carried out a group retaliation strike with precision sea-based weapons against facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using uncrewed boats, as well as the place where they were being manufactured at a ship repair plant near the city of Odessa,” the ministry told in a statement, CNN reported.
The Ukrainian Air Force said all six Russian Kalibr cruise missiles launched at Odesa were intercepted, so were the Iran-made Shahed attack drones. It is, therefore, unclear whether the strikes reached the targets.
Russian officials on Monday shut traffic on the Crimea bridge that connects Russia to the Crimean peninsular, citing an 'emergency' situation. Russia's National Anti-Terrorist Committee, on Monday, had said that two Ukrainian maritime drones damaged part of a bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea. The bridge is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war. Soon after the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would retaliate.
After the Crimean Bridge was attacked, Russia halted an unprecedented wartime deal that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia
The Crimean peninsula was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, however, internationally it is still part of Ukraine.
--With PTI inputs
