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FromSandra Kathe
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Since the grain deal expired, Russia has launched several attacks on the port city of Odessa — with a weapon Ukraine can do little against.
Odessa/Kiev – With repeated attacks in the Ukraine war, the Russian military is currently targeting the Black Sea city of Odessa in particular, at whose port Ukrainian grain exports were still being handled until a few days ago. According to Ukrainian sources, the latest attacks killed and injured several people, destroyed a UNESCO World Heritage site in the protected old town of Odessa and damaged numerous residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.
One of the reasons for the devastating consequences of the attacks are the Oniks and Kalibr cruise missiles and Iskander ballistic missiles used by Russia. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, 19 rockets were shot down on Odessa on Sunday night alone. Only nine of these could have been intercepted.
Russia fires Oniks missiles at Odessa: Few missiles intercepted
The biggest problem for the Ukrainian air defense is the P-800 Oniks missile. According to the Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ihnat, the guided missile designed to destroy ships can travel up to 3,000 kilometers per hour, as he said on Ukrainian television in the middle of the week after several Oniks attacks.
Like the online newspaper Kyiv Post reports that the missile is not only fast, but also poses problems for current defense systems because of its flight profile. “When fired, it can fly very high, only to approach its target by 10 to 15 meters,” the medium quotes Ihnat as saying. “Fighting this type of missile is difficult, in the end you can only influence it with electronic warfare,” explains the air force expert.
Russian attack on Odessa: Melnyk calls for punishment for Russia’s ‘barbarism’
For this reason too, after the increased number of Oniks attacks on Odessa since the cancellation of the Grain Agreement, calls for better anti-aircraft systems have been heard. In view of the renewed Russian shelling, the chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, called for more missile defense systems and tactical missiles for Ukraine. Ambassador Oleksii Makeiev, who represents Ukraine in Berlin, wrote in the short message service Twitter: “We need more anti-aircraft defense.”
His predecessor, acting Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk, also spoke up on Twitter on Sunday morning and posted pictures of the Transfiguration Cathedral, which was partially destroyed in the attack and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and which had only been rebuilt a few decades ago. The world accused Melnyk of only watching the destruction of his country: “Hello traffic lights, wake up. Moscow must finally be punished for this barbarity!” he pointed out to the government in Germany.
The Russian army leadership, on the other hand, emphasizes that it only shells military installations. After the recent attack on Odessa, the armed forces in Moscow said they had hit sites where “acts of terrorism against Russia using naval drones” were being prepared. Russia has accused Ukraine of using naval drones to attack the Crimean Bridge, which connects the Ukrainian peninsula with mainland Russia, last Monday. (saka with AFP)
List of rubrics: © Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP
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