(Reuters) – Russian missiles hit the port of Pivdennyi in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Friday, damaging Ukrainian and Singaporean facilities at the site, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.
“… they hit the Sea Port Pivdennyi. Several missiles struck port facilities, not only Ukrainian, but Singapore’s as well,” he said during a virtual address to the NATO-Ukraine Council.
The regional governor said one person was injured in the strike, while Ukraine’s southern military command said the attack had sparked fires. Local Telegram channels shared videos of heavy black smoke rising from what they said was the site of the strike.
Ukraine’s port infrastructure has suffered frequent Russian attacks since Russia withdrew last summer from a U.N.-brokered deal that had guaranteed safe shipments of Ukrainian grain. Kyiv has since established its own maritime corridor for the shipments.
Russia has also recently stepped up its use of harder-to-intercept ballistic missiles to hit Ukraine’s southern regions.
Last week, Ukraine’s national rail firm imposed a ban on deliveries to the large port of Chornomorsk, also in the Odesa region. Media reported that Russian attacks may have damaged railway tracks to the port’s grain terminals.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Jan Harvey and Gareth Jones)
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