In a midday of 23 May, Russian forces struck a civilian port facility in Odesa with Iskander-M ballistic missiles, killing a 40-year-old port worker and a 71-year-old man, and injuring at least eight civilians, four of them critically.

Russian troops launched a ballistic missile attack on a port facility in Odesa using Iskander-M systems. According to Ukrainian officials, the strike targeted exclusively civilian infrastructure, with no military assets in the area.

The Odesa port region has processed over 28 million tons of cargo in 2025, including 15 million tons of grain. It handles 60% of all Ukrainian exports, supplying grain to Spain, China, and Romania, and vulnerable populations in Africa and Asia. 

The Russian missiles killed two men, one a 40-year-old employee of a private company, and injured eight others. Vehicles were destroyed, windows shattered, and commercial equipment damaged.

Ukrainian Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, Oleksii Kuleba, emphasized that the port has no military use and called the strike a blatant war crime. 

“Once again, Russia has struck a peaceful, strategically important facility — one that plays a key role in global food security,” he said. 

Ukraine launched a criminal investigation into the attack. 

Meanwhile, Kyiv continues to search for Patriot air defense systems and their missiles, as they are the only weapons in Ukraine’s arsenal that are capable of downing ballistic missiles. 

The US has over 60 Patriot batteries but does not want to send any to Ukraine due to a policy of isolationism.

US refuses to share its 60+ Patriot system arsenal, largest in NATO, with Ukraine