Russia Targets Black Sea Ports After Vowing Revenge for Bridge Attack

Ukrainian air defenses shot down six Russian cruise missiles over Odesa, officials said Tuesday, ahead of a planned visit to the Black Sea port city by USAID Administrator Samantha Power.

Some 31 out of 36 Russian drones were also shot down overnight, most of them over Odesa and Mykolaiv in the south, Ukraine’s air force said.

The attacks came after Moscow vowed revenge for a Ukrainian marine drone attack on Monday that seriously damaged the Kerch Bridge connecting occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland.

"Tonight, the armed forces of the Russian Federation delivered a group strike of retaliation with high-precision sea-based weapons at facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using crewless boats, as well as at the place of their manufacture at a shipyard near the city of Odessa," Russia's defense ministry said in a statement.

Ukraine's military said six Kalibr cruise missiles fired at Odesa overnight. Officials said private homes and port infrastructure were damaged by blast waves and falling debris. An elderly man was injured in his home and hospitalized. 

The latest attack was "further proof that the country-terrorist wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports," Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential staff, said on Telegram.

Odesa is an important port and was a major hub for the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed for the export of Ukrainian grain and food oil to world markets. Russia killed the grain deal on Monday, refusing to allow its renewal. 

A port facility in Mykolaiv was damaged by fire late Monday, Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich wrote on Telegram. "It's quite serious," he said. 

Power, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Monday announced more than $500 million in humanitarian assistance during a visit to Kyiv.