Russia strikes Ukraine's facilities producing drone boats near Odessa

Russia says its forces have carried out a missile strike on facilities that manufactured and prepared drone boats near the Black Sea port city of Odessa, amid Ukraine’s heavily publicized counteroffensive.

The Russian Defense Ministry made the announcement on Sunday, saying all targets chosen for the strike were destroyed during the overnight attack.

"Last night, the Russian armed forces launched a group strike with long-range high-precision sea- and air-based weapons on facilities where terrorist acts against Russia were being prepared using uncrewed boats, as well as on places where they were being manufactured near the city of Odessa," it said.

“Foreign mercenaries were present at the affected facilities,” the ministry stated, adding that all selected targets were destroyed.

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The ministry further noted that Ukraine has attempted to advance in the directions of Donetsk, Krasny Liman and the southern region of Zaporizhzhia over the past day.

It went on to say that Russian forces have repelled Ukrainian offensive attempts, with Ukraine losing many troops and weaponry.

The ministry further rejected Ukraine and Western media’s allegations that the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa has been damaged by a Russian strike.

"The information spread by the Kiev regime about striking the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa as a result of the use of precision weapons has nothing to do with reality,” it said.

“All the facilities designated for destruction and destroyed on the night of July 23 — where the Kiev regime, together with foreign specialists, were preparing terrorist acts against the Russian Federation — were located at a safe distance from the cathedral complex," it added.

The ministry also said the damage to the cathedral “was most likely caused by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile that fell on it due to unprofessional actions of Ukrainian air defense operators, deliberately stationed in residential areas.”

The latest development comes as Ukraine launched a counteroffensive last month to reclaim territory under Russian control. 

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Kiev, however, has acknowledged that its forces are not advancing as fast as it desired against Russian forces.

Russia has also described Ukraine’s counteroffensive against its forces as “unsuccessful.”

Russia began what it calls a special military operation against its neighbor last February, saying the offensive was aimed at defending Ukraine's pro-Russian population in Donetsk and Luhansk, another eastern Ukrainian region, against persecution by the Kiev regime.

Several Ukrainian regions have ever since voted in separate referendums in favor of joining the Russian Federation.

Kiev and its Western allies, however, accuse Moscow of seizing those territories by force.

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