Ukraine: Odessa Rocked By Explosions As Russia Claims Strikes On Oil Depots

Ukraine — Russia said its missiles hit an oil refinery and gasoline storage facilities, causing explosions in Odessa early Sunday.

The first significant strikes on the vital Black Sea port city’s core sent huge black columns of smoke into the sky.

iexclusivenews reports that as the war enters its 39th day, Russian troops appear to be regrouping and turning their emphasis away from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

Cities on the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea are coming into increased focus as Moscow’s forces aim to gain ground in the country’s south and east.

Setting the stage for a new phase in the fight that military specialists predict will be protracted and brutal.

Because Moscow’s ground forces have been unable to move beyond Mykolaiv, roughly 70 miles east.

Odessa has been mostly spared from assaults. In the last week, local businesses and even the zoo have reopened.

Russia’s fleet is deliberately blocking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov to prevent Ukraine from rearmament, according to the UK Ministry of Defense.

What People Are Saying

Ukrainians would face “tough” confrontations in another damaged port city, Mariupol, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

As Moscow vies for a strategic win that would free up thousands of soldiers to fight elsewhere.

An oil refinery and three gasoline storage facilities were destroyed by the high-precision sea and air missiles, according to Russia’s Defense Ministry.

The Washington Post was unable to independently verify the report right away.

Officials in Ukraine claimed the fire had been put out, but the depot had been devastated and “could no longer function” as a result of the attack on Sunday.

The Odessa City Council announced in a statement released on Telegram early Sunday that the city had been assaulted from the air and that “several missiles were shot down by air defense.”

In certain regions, fires were recorded, and people were warned to cover their windows and remain away as emergency personnel worked.

Since President Putin’s invasion in February, Russia has attacked fuel installations all around the nation.

© Petros Giannakouris/AP People stay in a yard as smoke rises in the air in the background after shelling in Odessa, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

What You Need To Know

According to Ukrainian officials, Russian missiles “totally damaged” a gasoline store in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv last week.

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According to the Kyiv Independent, Russia also attacked an oil warehouse in Dnipro on March 30.

Russia has accused Ukraine of attacking petroleum storage in Belgorod, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has neither acknowledged nor refuted.

“Fortunately, no one was injured, houses were damaged, glass was broken, roofs were destroyed.” Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov told public broadcaster Suspilne.

“Communal services are already at the site. We will provide all necessary assistance to those whose homes are damaged. The situation is under control.”

Zelensky had made an emotive plea hours before for Western nations to provide additional missile defense systems and planes to counter Moscow’s aerial bombardments:

“Every single Russia missile that has hit our cities. And every bomb that has been thrown onto our people. Our children will be a black mark on the history of those who made that decision. The decision on whether or not to assist Ukraine with modern weaponry.”

Although military analysts believe the next phase of the 39-day-old conflict will mostly be a struggle for southeastern Ukraine. Strikes on other locations, particularly from the air, are not ruled out.

In Mariupol, a southern port city where Moscow has already wrought immense devastation and hardship collapses,

“it could free up Russian logistics and manpower along the southern axis of advance.” Director of Russian studies at CNA, a research center in Arlington, Virginia, Michael Kofman wrote.