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Fire in the port of Odessa
Photo: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Russia has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Black Sea port of Odessa - and justified it with the destruction of US weapons.
The Russian missiles were fired at a ship repair plant, the Defense Ministry said.
A Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with US-supplied Harpoon missiles were destroyed in the dock.
In addition, as a result of the attacks, facilities for repairing and modernizing the ship inventory of the Ukrainian naval forces were shut down, it said.
The attack on Saturday morning had caused international outrage because Russia had just signed an agreement in Istanbul on the previous day to also export Ukrainian grain from this port in Odessa.
In it, Russia had pledged to let ships for export use a sea corridor and not to fire at them.
The three ports involved must therefore not be attacked.
The agreement still applies.
After the attack on the port, Russia initially denied being responsible, according to Turkey.
"The Russians have told us that they have nothing to do with this attack and that they are investigating the matter very closely," Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar assured on Saturday.
Selenskyj speaks of "Russian barbarism"
On Sunday morning, the Russian Foreign Ministry then admitted the attacks on Odessa.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova initially only said that a warship and “military infrastructure” had been destroyed.
The message from her ministry also mentioned the destroyed US weapons.
Ukraine has repeatedly dealt severe blows to the Russian Navy with such »Harpoon« missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the rocket strikes on the port as an act of "blatant Russian barbarism".
"If anyone in the world said earlier that it was necessary to enter into dialogue with Russia, to reach agreements on a ceasefire without liberating our territory from the occupiers, today's missiles have destroyed the possibility of such statements," said Zelenskyy.
The export agreement deals, among other things, with the export of millions of tons of grain.
(Read more about the agreement and its implications here. ) The agreement, signed through the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, provides for exports to be monitored from a control center in Istanbul.
kko/dpa