The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation states that on the night of July 18, a “group retaliation strike” (for the attack on the Crimean bridge) was carried out against targets in the Odessa and Nikolaev region.
“A group strike of retaliation with high-precision sea-based weapons was inflicted on facilities where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared using unmanned boats, as well as on the place of their manufacture at a shipyard near the city of Odessa,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. It is reported that in the area of Nikolaev and Odessa, fuel storage facilities with a total volume of about 70 thousand tons were destroyed, which provided fuel to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Earlier, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that on the night of July 18, the Russian army carried out another combined attack on targets in Ukraine, using Kalibr missiles and Shahed-136/131 Iranian-made kamikaze drones. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Ukrainian air defense forces shot down six Kalibr cruise missiles and 31 Shahed-136/131 kamikaze drones. In addition, one Russian reconnaissance UAV was shot down. The report noted that most of the “shaheeds” were shot down in the Odessa and Nikolaev regions. Also, air defense forces worked at night in the Donetsk, Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk regions. The Kalibr missiles, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were launched by the Russian frigate Admiral Essen. Shahedas were launched from Cape Chauda on the southern tip of the Kerch Peninsula.
Ukrainian sources confirmed information about hits and fires at a number of facilities in the Odessa and Nikolaev regions.