These attacks have featured an unusual number of AS-4 KITCHEN missiles, a 5.5 tonne weapon originally designed to destroy aircraft carriers.
That is according to a latest the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine.
Read more: rUssians Attack Odesa, Hit Historical Center, Destroy Cathedral, Zelensky Says Ukraine Will Deliver Response to the Terrorists
According to the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence, damage has included several grain silos at Chornomorsk Port, south of Odesa, as well as the historic city centre. On 24 July 2023, russia extended one way attack drone strikes to the docks on the Danube River, approximately 200 metres from the Romanian border.
"Between August 2022 and June 2023, when the Black Sea Grain Initiative was still in force, Russia generally refrained from striking civil infrastructure in the southern ports," the intelligence update reads.
As the U.K. Defense Ministry’s Defense Intelligence notes, since Russia failed to renew the deal, the Kremlin likely feels less politically constrained, and is attempting to strike targets in Odesa because it believes Ukraine is storing military assets in these areas.
"Since the start of the war, Russia’s strike campaign has been characterised by poor intelligence and a dysfunctional targeting process," the U.K. Defense Intelligence concludes.
It should be noted that AS-4 KITCHEN is a NATO reporting name for the Kh-22 (Russian: Х-22 "Буря", Storm) long-range anti-ship missile developed by MKB Raduga in the Soviet Union. It was designed for use against aircraft carriers and carrier battle groups, with either a conventional or nuclear warhead. As Defense Express reported, before startingthe wave of attacks on the Ukrainian southern port city Odesa in July 2023, russian military industry modernized Kh-22 missiles as well as P-800 Oniks cruise missiles which now are used for nightly shelling of Ukrainian civil objects on the country’s south.
Read more: For Ukraine ATACMS is an Air Defense Weapon, Says Ukrainian Air Force Spokesman
