Putin's revenge: Russia attacks Odesa for the second night in a row

(Patria) - Russia carried out air strikes on Odesa for the second night in a row, but the key port will not be intimidated and will continue its work on grain exports, Ukrainian officials said early on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Odesa Oblast Governor Oleh Kiper said on social media that air defense systems were engaged in repelling the Russian air attack and urged residents of the region to stay in shelters.

The attacks on Odesa, one of Ukraine's main grain export ports, followed a promise of retaliation from Russia after an explosion on the bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean peninsula on Monday, for which Moscow blamed Ukraine.

Shortly after the bridge was hit on Monday, Moscow withdrew from the year-old grain deal, a move the United Nations said risked creating global hunger.

"(They) are trying to scare the whole world, especially those who want to work for the grain corridor... Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations," Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa military administration, said in a message on his Telegram channel early on Wednesday.

"But I think all normal, rational people will look and say: Odesa was not afraid, is not afraid, and will not be afraid – we will work," he added.

The Ukrainian Air Force warned of possible cruise missile launches from the Black Sea during the night. The entire eastern part of Ukraine was under an air raid alert, which began after midnight on Wednesday.
There was no comment from Russia on the attacks. Pro-Kremlin military bloggers said the strikes were "massive" and that Moscow used a combination of missiles and drones to attack Odesa and other regions.

On Tuesday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had hit military targets in two Ukrainian port cities overnight as a "massive revenge strike" in response to the attack on the Crimean Bridge.