Russia targeted Ukraine’s Odessa and Mykolaiv regions on the Black Sea with airstrikes on Tuesday, hitting private buildings and port infrastructure along the country’s southern coast, Ukraine’s military said.
Kremlin forces used air-launched missiles in the attack, Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command said in a Facebook post.
In the Odessa region, a number of private buildings in coastal villages were hit and caught fire, according to the report. In the Mykolaiv region, port infrastructure has been targeted.
Hours after the resumption of strikes in the south, an official installed by Moscow in the southern Kherson region said that the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions would soon be “liberated” by Russian forces, as would the Kherson region further afield. ballast.
“The Kherson region and the city of Kherson have been liberated forever,” said Kirill Stremousov, who was quoted by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
The developments came as Ukraine appeared to be preparing a counter-offensive in the south.
Russia previously attacked the port of Odessa over the weekend. The British military said on Tuesday there was no indication that a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles were at the site, as claimed by Moscow.
The British Ministry of Defense added that Russia sees Ukraine’s use of anti-ship missiles as “a key threat” limiting its Black Sea Fleet.
“This significantly undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt an amphibious assault to capture Odessa,” the military said. Russia will continue to prioritize efforts to degrade and destroy Ukraine’s anti-ship capability. »
She added that “Russia’s targeting processes are most likely regularly plagued by outdated intelligence, poor planning and a top-down approach to operations.”
Russian shelling over the past 24 hours has killed at least three civilians and injured eight others in Ukraine, the president’s office said Tuesday.
Donetsk Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko accused Russian troops of using cluster munitions and reiterated his call for the evacuation of civilians.
“There is not a single safe place left, everything is bombed,” Mr. Kyrylenko said in televised remarks. But there are still escape routes for the civilian population. »
“Limited gains” for the Russians
The Institute for the Study of War, based in Washington, DC, reported that the Russians were using mercenaries from the shadowy Wagner Group to capture the Vuhledar power station on the northern outskirts of the village of Novoluhanske.
But Russian forces have made “limited gains” there, according to the Ukrainian general staff.
Russia’s main objective has been to capture Bakhmut, which Moscow’s forces need to continue their offensive on the main Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
“Russian forces have made marginal gains south of Bakhmut, but it is unlikely that they will be able to effectively exploit these advances to take full control of Bakhmut itself,” the Institute for Development said. study of war.
Russian forces continued to launch strikes on civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city in the northeast, and the surrounding region.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said strikes in the city resumed at dawn on Tuesday, damaging a car dealership.
“The Russians are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure – hospitals, schools, cinemas,” Syniehubov said on Ukrainian television. Everything is fired upon, even the queues for humanitarian aid; we therefore urge people to avoid mass gatherings. »
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Moscow wanted “the complete subjugation of Ukraine and its people”.
“We must be prepared that this war ― which Russia is waging with absolute brutality and in a way that no one else would ― will last for months,” Baerbock warned during a visit to Prague.