Russia is reportedly preparing to launch a “massive” missile attack on Ukraine from the sea.
Six Russian cruise missile ships have been stationed in the Black Sea and “most likely were preparing for a massive missile launch on Ukrainian territory” as of Monday, according to Ukraine 24. Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command said “permanent missile ships” in the area was recently reduced due to the “actions” of the Ukrainian military, which were “very disturbing for the enemy”, according to the Ukrainian state media agency Ukrinform.
Ukrainian forces also warned that “Russian propagandists” are increasingly spreading false news of damage to airports and other critical, strategic and military infrastructure in the region. “
The Ukrainian military said on Monday that a food warehouse had been destroyed by a Russian missile attack on Odessa, the country’s largest Black Sea port, according to Reuters. There were no reports of civilian deaths. Russia’s Black Sea Navy includes three surface-to-air missile ships and three submarine-launched missiles, Ukrainskaya Pravda reports.
Russia is reportedly preparing for a “massive” missile attack on Ukraine from the Black Sea. Russia’s missile cruiser Moscow, sunk during the April conflict, is pictured in Sevastopol Bay on September 10, 2008. AFP PHOTO / VASILY BATANOV / Getty
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday that a long-range cruise missile attack on a Ukrainian military installation in Dnepropetrovsk had killed senior officers, including generals. On Monday, Russian officials said Ukrainian missiles had struck three offshore gas platforms in the Black Sea.
Last week, the Ukrainian military wrote on Twitter that the Russian tugboat Rescuer Vasily Bekh had been “successfully demilitarized” in a missile strike while “transporting personnel, weapons and ammunition to the occupied Snake Island” in the Black Sea. Officials said Harpoon missiles made in the United States were used in the strike.
The strike came just after the US Department of Defense announced a new $ 1 billion aid package for Ukraine, including two Harpoon coastal defense systems. Harpoon missiles were also sent to Ukraine from Denmark.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called on Western countries to send more military equipment and supplies as the war with Russia approaches its three-month mark.
“We need your support, we need weapons, weapons that will have better capabilities than Russian weapons,” Zelensky said Monday at an event hosted by the ISPI think tank in Milan, Italy, according to The Los. Angeles Times. “It’s a matter of life or death.”
Russian authorities, meanwhile, have warned Western nations not to continue delivering aid to Ukraine, threatening to expand the war if the country is equipped with long-range missiles. Last week, a former Russian military warned of a “potential nuclear conflict” with NATO.
Newsweek asked the Russian government and Zelensky’s office for comment.
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