UK says no indication of Ukraine's warships & anti-ship missiles near Odessa port

On July 26, the UK asserted that there was no evidence of a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles being located near to the port of Odessa, which the Russians had bombed on July 23. It is worth mentioning here that on July 23, Russian cruise missiles targeted the dockside in the Ukrainian port of Odessa, and the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that they had attacked a Ukrainian warship and a cache of anti-ship missiles.

The UK Ministry of Defence in its latest intelligence update, stated, "Russian cruise missiles hit the dock-side in Ukraine’s Odesa Port. The Russian MoD claimed to have hit a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles. There is no indication that such targets were at the location the missiles hit."

The UK Defence Ministry went on to say that Russia very probably sees anti-ship missiles as a major threat to the efficacy of their Black Sea Fleet. The ministry wrote in the statement, "This has significantly undermined the overall invasion plan, as Russia cannot realistically attempt an amphibious assault to seize Odessa."

Russia will prioritise efforts to weaken and destroy Ukraine's anti-ship capacity, the UK Defence ministry further claimed. Further, according to the update Russia's targeting techniques are very certainly compromised on a regular basis by outdated intelligence, bad planning, and a top-down approach to operations.

Odessa attack

Russian missiles struck the Black Sea port of Odessa on July 23, according to Ukrainian officials, jeopardising a deal negotiated a day earlier between Moscow and Kiev to allow shipment of millions of tonnes of stranded grain and alleviate a worldwide food crisis. Whereas, Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman announced on July 24, 2022 that Russian missiles destroyed Ukrainian "military infrastructure" in a strike on Ukraine's Black Sea port of Odessa.

The strike on July 23, 2022, came a day after Kyiv and Moscow reached a breakthrough accord aimed at alleviating a worldwide food crisis hashed out over months of discussions. Two Kalibr cruise missiles struck the port infrastructure but missed the grain silos in Odessa, one of the country's largest and most vital maritime trading ports, according to the military command in southern Ukraine. There were no casualties, according to the military's southern command.

Image: AP