New Russian attack on Odesa
Russia has again attacked Ukraine’s southern Odesa region with a barrage of drones and missiles, leaving one person injured and port facilities damaged, authorities reported on Monday morning.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia carried out the assault with 19 Iranian-made Shahed drones, two Onyx supersonic missiles and 12 other Kalibr missiles.
A submarine was also mobilised, it added.
All the drones and 11 Kalibr were shot down by air defences, the army continued, revealing the seaside resort had suffered “significant” damage.
An Onyx missile hit an “empty” grain warehouse at the port said army spokeswoman Natalya Gumenyuknoing. Areas of Odesa were “actually destroyed”, she noted.
The army also reported warehouses and businesses were damaged by falling debris in the city’s suburbs.
Russian forces regularly target southern Ukraine, where crucial export infrastructure is located.
Attacks have increased since Moscow abandoned a landmark grain deal in July that allowed Ukraine to freely send agricultural products over the Black Sea.
On Sunday, however, a second cargo of Ukrainian wheat arrived in Istanbul via the Black Sea through a maritime corridor set up by Kyiv, despite threats from Russia it would attack boats entering and leaving Ukraine.
China’s Ukraine stance ‘harms its image’ – EU Commissioner
Beijing’s refusal to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine tarnishes how it is viewed, European Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis warned on Monday.
“There is… a risk in terms of reputation for China,” declared the commissioner, speaking to students at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
He said this stance “harms the image of the country, not only towards European consumers but also businesses.”
“Territorial integrity has always been a key principle for China in international diplomacy”, but “the war led by Russia constitutes a flagrant violation of this principle”, Valdis continued.
“China has always advocated that each country should be free to choose its own development path. So it is very difficult for us to understand China’s position on Russia’s war against Ukraine because it violates China’s basic principles.”
Moscow and Beijing are strategic allies. The pair often tout their “limitless” partnership in economic and military areas, especially against the West.
They have grown even closer since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, which China refuses to condemn.
However, Beijing’s stance on the Ukraine war is complicated, pushed and pulled in competing directions.
Drones shot down in Russia
On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Telegram that four Ukrainian drones had been intercepted over the annexed Crimean peninsula and the northwest Black Sea.
Two other drones were shot down over the Kursk region, according to the same source.
“There are no casualties”, but an administrative building suffered damage, noted regional governor Roman Starovoyt, claiming their “air defence worked”.
Though it keeps launching drones against Russian territory, which rarely hit strategic targets or cause significant damage, experts told Euronews in September there were significant strategic objectives behind Kyiv’s drone war.
