Russia says it destroys terminal that stored foreign weapons near Ukraine’s Odessa

By Ali Cura

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday said that a logistics center near the Ukrainian city of Odessa was hit with “high precision” missiles, destroying a large batch of weapons that were delivered to Ukraine from the US and European countries.

"This afternoon, high-precision long-range airborne missiles of the Russian Air Force disabled a logistics terminal at a military airfield near Odessa, where a large batch of foreign weapons received from the US and European countries was stored," Igor Konashenkov, a ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

Konashenkov said 22 Ukrainian military elements were hit by missiles, including Ukrainian military observation centers, fortified positions, arsenals, air defense system, radio stations and Ukrainian military units.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 141 aircraft, 541 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 264 air defense systems, 2,479 tanks, and other armored combat vehicles, 278 multiple rocket launchers, 1,081 field artillery pieces, and mortars, as well as 2,321 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed, he went on to say.

Mikhail Mizintsev, director of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, said in a statement that Kyiv was preparing a provocation to discredit the Russian army in the world public opinion.

He claimed that the Ukrainian Special Forces planned a provocation in the port of Odessa using toxic chemicals to accuse Russian troops of allegedly attacking civilian infrastructure and that they are also preparing “another fake event” in Lysychansk together with Ukrainian intelligence and British special services.

At least 2,435 civilians have been killed and 2,946 injured in Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure believed to be much higher.

More than 5.1 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with over 7.7 million more internally displaced, said the UN refugee agency.

* Writing by Gozde Bayar