On the night of July 18, the Russian military launched a retaliatory strike on the Ukrainian infrastructure, where terrorist attacks against the Russian Federation were being developed, including with the use of marine drones. This was reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the Telegram channel.

“The Russian Armed Forces inflicted a group strike of retaliation with high-precision sea-based weapons on facilities where terrorist acts were being prepared against the Russian Federation using unmanned boats, as well as on the place of their manufacture at a shipyard near the city of Odessa”,

– the publication says.

The department also noted that in the area of ​​​​Odessa and Nikolaev, fuel storage facilities with a total volume of about 70 thousand tons were destroyed, from where the Armed Forces of Ukraine received fuel for equipment.

Also, the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, said that the actions of the Ministry of Defense were an act of retaliation for the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, which occurred the day before. In addition, further steps of retaliation may follow. According to Peskov, proposals for the Russian president to respond to the attack on the Crimean bridge are still being worked out. The same applies to proposals for measures to improve safety on the bridge.

Peskov, answering the question of journalists whether it is possible to recognize the “Kyiv regime” as a terrorist one, said that this idea has not yet found sufficient development in the parliament, respectively, the Kremlin has not yet undertaken to voice its position on this issue.

“Indeed, there was information in the press about this, it was available to everyone. I am not aware that this idea has received any further development in our parliament – in the lower or upper house. Therefore, now, at the present moment, I cannot tell you about any position on this matter. I do not undertake to give any assessments, this requires legal elaboration from the point of view of international law and so on. It was still originally addressed to our deputies. So far, it has not been considered so far, ”Peskov said.

However, he noted that “one can only agree” with the fact that Russian society considers the Kiev regime to be terrorist.

In Ukraine, attacks on port and fuel infrastructure have been confirmed. So, the head of the public council at the Odessa Regional Military Administration, Sergei Bratchuk, and the operational command “South” said that the objects in the port were damaged by “fragments of downed missiles and an explosive wave.” Also, according to him, several private houses were damaged, in one of them a man was injured.

The operational command of the grouping of the South “AFU” in its Facebook (the owner of the Meta company is recognized as extremist in Russia and banned) reported on the strikes in Nikolaev. According to them, there was a “hit in an industrial facility”, a fire broke out. There were no casualties.

Attack on the bridge

The day before, two naval drones attacked the Crimean bridge in the area of ​​​​the 145th pillar. The explosion killed a married couple, their daughter was taken to intensive care in Krasnodar. Both spans of the automobile part of the bridge were damaged, traffic on them was stopped. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee classified the incident as a terrorist attack. On the night of July 18, traffic on the surviving part of the bridge was resumed. It will need repairs – two-way traffic on one side of the bridge is planned to be launched on September 15, on the other side – in November.

The speaker of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Andriy Yusov, did not confirm Kyiv’s involvement in the explosions. “Now the whole world sees many kilometers of traffic jams and violations of bridge structures. As for the comments about the reasons for this, we do not comment. One can only quote the words of the head of the GUR, Kirill Budanov, that “the Crimean bridge is an unnecessary structure there,” Yusov said.Crimea was attacked by 28 drones On the night of July 18, in the east of Crimea, Russian air defense shot down nine UAVs, and the means… 18 July 11:39

In the evening of the same day, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on the incident. He blamed the incident on Kyiv. According to him, Russia will respond to the terrorist attack, the Ministry of Defense is preparing proposals on this matter. He also called the explosion pointless from a military point of view, since “the bridge has not been used for military transportation for a long time.”

In connection with the terrorist attack, the representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, called for refraining from strikes on the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.

In turn, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that Kyiv is free to decide how to fight. “Of course, Ukraine must decide how it fights this war in defense of its territory, its people and its freedom. As for the bridge across the Kerch Strait. We are monitoring this situation,” he said.