Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian ship carrying Western-made ammunition which was docked in Odessa Region, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said, releasing video of the purported strike.
In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said that an Iskander-M short-range ballistic missile successfully hit a transport docked in Yuzhny (known as Pivdennyi in Ukraine) Seaport located some 30km east of Odessa.
“The missile strike was carried out at the moment of unloading. The objective control footage shows the detonation of the ammunition,” officials said, adding that the shipment of arms and munitions arrived from Europe, without specifying the country of origin or the exact number of weapons destroyed.
The black-and-white drone footage, filmed from high altitude, shows what appears to be a missile hitting the ship while cargo was being unloaded and fire engulfing the vessel.
Oleg Kiper, the head the Odessa regional administration, claimed that the missile attack only damaged what he called a “civilian vessel,” adding that no one had been hurt.
Russia has been actively using Iskander missiles – which can carry a payload of up to 700kg of explosives up to 500km and travel at hypersonic speeds of over two kilometers per second – to strike Kiev’s staging areas, command and control centers, airfields, defense industrial facilities and other military targets. Moscow also regularly bombards Ukraine’s coastal areas and port facilities which serve as critical points for delivery of Western military aid.
Russian officials have repeatedly denounced Western arms shipments to Ukraine, saying they only prolong the conflict without changing its ultimate outcome.