Ukrainian air defenses were activated early Tuesday in the southern region of Odessa, a key area for the grain deal that expired late Monday, local authorities said. “Combat air defense operations continue,” Sergiy Bratchuk, an official with the Odessa region administration, said on Telegram.
According to the Ukrainian operational command for the south of the country, “the enemy is attacking the southern regions with UAVs,” he said on Telegram.
Attacks on several cities in the country
Southern Ukraine is the target of “drone attacks,” regional governor Oleg Kiper reported on the same social network, calling on the population to remain in shelters until the air alert is lifted.
Air alerts were in progress early Tuesday throughout the country, in the regions of Odessa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporijjia but also in those of Donetsk (south-east), Kharkiv (east), Dnipropetrovsk (central-east), Poltava (east ), Kirovograd (center) and Cherkasy (center).
Odessa, whose historic center was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in Danger in January, has been shelled several times since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
After the invasion of Moscow began, Ukrainian Black Sea ports were blocked by Russian warships until an agreement, signed in July 2022 under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkey, allows essential grain exports to pass through. .
The Odessa region has three ports that were part of the crucial global food deal that expired on Monday night. Moscow had previously made known its refusal to extend it by denouncing the obstacles to trade in Russian agricultural products.
Source: BFM TV
