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| Russian Missiles Hit Odesa Port and Destroy Food Warehouses |
International Military - Russian troops seized territory along the river frontline in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday (21/6/2022). President Volodymyr Zelensky expects Moscow to step up attacks ahead of a summit of European leaders expected to approve Kiev's request to join the European Union.
Moscow's separatist proxies claim to have captured Toshkivka, a city on the western bank of the mostly Ukrainian-controlled Siverskyi Donets river, south of Sievierodonetsk. The region has become a major battlefield in recent weeks. Ukraine admits that Moscow has had success in Toshkivka and says Russia is trying to gain a foothold there to make inroads into the wider Ukrainian-held eastern Donbas region.
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It also confirmed claims Russia had captured the eastern outskirts of Sievierodonetsk. "Obviously, this week we should expect from Russia an intensification of its hostile activities," Zelensky said in a video speech late Sunday. "We are preparing. We are ready," he continued.
In Odesa, Ukraine's largest Black Sea port, a food warehouse was destroyed in a Russian missile attack on Monday, the Ukrainian military said. No civilians were reported to have died as a result of this attack.
The city has been bombarded sporadically since the start of the war and blockaded by the Russian Navy. Both sides accused each other of laying mines in the sea. The "Southern" Operations Command said Russian troops fired 14 missiles into southern Ukraine over a three-hour barrage. The Russian military did not comment on the report.
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The leader of Russia-founded Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, said Kiev had attacked a Black Sea drilling platform owned by a Crimean oil company.
Three people were injured, and a search was underway for seven workers, he said on Telegram. Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said the platform was located 71 km from Odesa. Reuters could not immediately verify reports of the attack.