russia’s representatives acknowledge strike on Odesa port, contradicting each other

Russia's State Duma member Yevgeniy Popov and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova acknowledged the strikes on the Odesa port, naming different targets though. Popov said Russians had been targeting Harpoon missiles, Zakharova – a military boat.

Ukrinform reports this with reference to BBC and Zakharova's Telegram channel.

"We attacked the military infrastructure in the Odesa port… Those were Harpoon missiles. They were stationed in Odesa and we destroyed them," Popov said on Saturday evening.

As he noted, "no one died or was injured as a result of this attack." Also, according to Popov, MP and TV propagandist, co-host of the 60 Minutes TV program, Russia did not violate the Istanbul agreement, but "simply destroyed the military infrastructure of Ukraine and will do that again."

A few hours earlier, Defense Minister of Türkiye Hulusi Akar said that the Russian representatives had informed Ankara on Saturday that Moscow had "nothing to do" with the missile strikes on the Odesa port.

In turn, Zakharova said that the Russian Kalibr missiles had destroyed an object of the military infrastructure at the Odesa port – a Ukrainian military boat.

As reported, on July 23, the enemy attacked the Odesa Sea Trade Port with Kalibr cruise missiles. Two missiles were shot down by the anti-aircraft defense forces, two more hit the port's infrastructure facilities.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that the missile attack on the port of Odesa was Vladimir Putin's spit in the face of UN Secretary General António Guterres and President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

On July 22, the agreement on exports of grain and other foodstuffs from the Ukrainian ports was signed following a quadripartite meeting in Istanbul between Ukraine, Turkey, the United Nations, and Russia.