Humeniuk believes that Russian shelling of Odesa connected to 'grain deal'

Natalia Humeniuk, the head of the Joint Press Center of the Southern Defense Forces, said this at a briefing at the Ukraine-Union Media Center, answering the question whether the shelling of Odesa is related to the events in Crimea, according to Ukrinform.

"Despite the fact that all the propaganda publics were flying 'payback' (for the attack on the Crimean bridge - ed.), we understood that attacks are possible, and they will not be tied to specific events. The enemy was preparing, preparing for a long time. And since they started the rhetoric about the termination of the 'grain deal' , the port infrastructure of the Odesa region has been hit not for the first time, and threats have been coming from everywhere," Humeniuk said.

According to her, the direction of the enemy attack has been more or less predictable lately.

As reported, on July 17, at about 4 a.m., a section of the bridge across the Kerch Strait collapsed. It was preceded by an explosion.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has promised that Russia will take revenge for the attack on the Crimean bridge.

Before that, Russia announced that it was suspending the extension of the 'grain deal', which was signed on July 22, 2022, in Istanbul for 120 days and extended several times.

On the night of July 18, Ukrainian Air Defense Forces shot down all six Kalibr missiles used by the Russians to attack Odesa and destroyed 21 enemy Shahed-136 drones on their approach from the sea to the Odesa region. The fragments of the downed missiles and the blast wave from the downing damaged port infrastructure and several private homes.