Thunderous apocalyptic explosions hit the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk after a wave of Russian drone strikes. Multiple secondary explosions with fireballs rising into the irradiated night sky were seen at an ignited dockside warehouse amid suspicions that a new supply of ammunition or weapons had ignited.
The port was targeted by at least 20 Shahed drones, reportedly soon after the arrival of a new cargo from Turkey, in a potentially major blow to Ukraine’s war effort.
The deafening detonations came after Vladimir Putin’s top war commander, General Valery Gerasimov, had vowed new “targeted, massive strikes against Ukrainian military installations and military-industrial complex facilities”.
Putin signalled on his 73rd birthday this week that the war will go on indefinitely, saying: “We must ensure the unconditional fulfilment of all objectives, the achievement of all the goals facing the troops during the special military operation.”
Officially, Ukraine said that the strikes at Chornomorsk, Odesa region, were on a “port infrastructure facility” and that “containers with vegetable oil, vehicles, and wood fuel pellets were burning”.
However, there was suspicion that the attack had hit a military consignment, possibly from the West. Russian war channel Ramzai said the secondary explosions were from “a military cargo arriving from Turkey.
“The attack on the terminal was swift, immediately after unloading containers with weapons and ammunition.
“Odesa hasn’t seen or heard such a detonation in a long time.”
Five people were injured as a result of the strikes, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Ukraine was also under fierce attack in the border region of Sumy, where a male pensioner, 66, was killed by a Russian aerial bomb in Bilopillia, with a resident, 40, killed in the Mykolaiv district.
The savagely hit region suffered 98 Russian attacks on 32 settlements over a 24-hour period.
Ukraine struck the LUKOIL-Korobkovsky gas processing plant in the city of Kotovo, Volgograd region, triggering an inferno.
NASA’s fire monitoring system also confirmed a blaze near the Yefimovka oil pumping station.
The strikes were the latest in a long-distance bombing campaign which has left the Russian economy on its knees.
Some 85 energy-linked targets – including dozens of oil refineries – have been hit by Ukraine in two months, with fuel rationing and even petrol coupons being introduced in the worst-hit areas.
