Odesa Oblast under drone attack on 24 July 2023
A retrospective on the strikes that hit Odesa Oblast's grain warehouses at Reni and followed a missile attack on Odesa itself.
What did the southern edge of Ukraine look like on 24 July 2023? In Odesa Oblast, it was a day of damage assessment after a night of attacks and a fresh wave of drone strikes.
On that date, Russian forces attacked the oblast with drones. As reported at the time, the strikes destroyed grain warehouses at the Reni Commercial Seaport and injured seven civilians.
The night before
The attack on Reni followed a Russian missile strike on the city of Odesa on 23 July 2023. That nighttime attack killed at least one person and injured 22 others. It also severely damaged the Transfiguration Cathedral.
Taken together, the two days showed the pressure on the region: first the city of Odesa and a major religious building, then port facilities at Reni, where stored grain was destroyed.
A separate concern in the south
On 23 July 2023, another development drew attention elsewhere in southern Ukraine. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported finding anti-personnel mines at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. The agency noted that any detonation should not affect the site's nuclear safety and security systems.
For Odesa Oblast, 24 July 2023 was defined by the drone strikes on Reni, with seven civilians injured and grain warehouses destroyed.
