Kyiv
\nUkraine\u2019s southern port of Odesa was hit by Russian missiles overnight, destroying grain stores, the Ukrainian military said Monday.
\nRussia \u201cattacked the south of the country again,\u201d the Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine said on the messaging platform Telegram.
\nSince July when Moscow pulled out of a UN-brokered deal allowing safe grain shipments via the Black Sea, Russia has ramped up attacks on Ukraine\u2019s grain-exporting infrastructure in the southern Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
\nNataliya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for the Ukrainian southern military command, said Russia was apparently \u201ctrying to test out the density of the air defense.\u201d
\n\u201cThey understand that port infrastructure is a priority for our region, and that it is reliably protected. However, that is why the attack that occurred tonight was both massive and by combined means,\u201d she said on Telegram.
\nThe Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine said Russia directed 19 drones and 2 Onyx supersonic missiles at Odesa, and fired 12 Kalibr missiles.
\nThey claimed all 19 Shaheds and 11 Kalibrs \u201cwere shot down.\u201d
\nHowever, Russia did \u201chit the port infrastructure\u201d in Odesa, which \u201csuffered significant damage,\u201d they said.
\n\u201cOnyx missiles destroyed granaries. But people were not hurt,\u201d they said.
\nWarehouses and a private house in the Odesa suburbs were damaged and caught fire, they added, \u201cas a result of falling debris.\u201d
\nGumenyuk said one of the grain stores hit was empty.
\n\u201cNevertheless, hitting grain deal-related infrastructure,\u201d she said, was a Russian \u201cpriority.\u201d
\nOdesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said on Telegram that one woman in Odesa, a civilian, was injured by shrapnel \u201cin a blast wave\u201d and was being treated in hospital.
\nUkraine is testing a new Black Sea route that avoids international waters and uses those controlled by NATO members Bulgaria and Romania.
\nA first ship loaded with wheat reached Istanbul on Thursday despite Russian threats to attack boats heading to or from Ukraine.
\nA second shipment reached Turkiye on Sunday, according to maritime traffic monitoring sites.
\nRussia and Ukraine are two major agricultural powers whose supplies are crucial for global food security.
\nMoscow\u2019s invasion of its neighbor in February last year \u2014 and subsequent international sanctions \u2014 have destabilized global supplies and markets.
\nMeanwhile Russia\u2019s defense ministry said its air defenses had \u201cdestroyed\u201d four unmanned aerial vehicles over the northwestern Black Sea, and the Crimean peninsula which Moscow annexed in 2014.
\nIt said two drones each were intercepted in Kursk and Bryansk, two regions bordering Ukraine.
\nKursk regional governor Roman Starovoyt said several homes and the roof of an administrative building were damaged \u201cdue to an attack by Ukrainian UAVs\u201d in the Central district.
\nNo casualties were reported.
\nBryansk regional governor Aleksandr Bogomaz said there were \u201cno casualties or damage\u201d in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kyiv Ukraine\u2019s southern port of Odesa was hit by Russian missiles overnight, destroying grain stores, the Ukrainian military said Monday. Russia \u201cattacked the south of the country again,\u201d the Defense Forces of the South of Ukraine said on the messaging platform Telegram. Since July when Moscow pulled out of a UN-brokered deal allowing safe grain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358315,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-358279","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n