Russia says it hit last Ukraine warship

Russia’s defence ministry says its forces destroyed Ukraine’s “last warship” two days ago in the port of Odesa in a missile strike.

“The last warship of the Ukrainian navy, the Yuriy Olefirenko, was destroyed at a warship mooring in the port of Odesa,” defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Wednesday.

He said the vessel was hit with “high-precision weapons”, a phrase he uses typically to mean missiles, on May 29, but gave no details.

Ukraine’s armed forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ukrainian officials said on Monday that Russia put five aircraft out of action in an attack on a military target in western Ukraine and caused a fire at the Black Sea port of Odesa in heavy air strikes early on Monday.

Reuters could not verify the accounts independently.

The Russian defence ministry said its forces had pushed Ukrainian units out of positions around the settlements of Krasnohorivka and Yasynuvata in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed.

The ministry said “fierce fighting” continued around Avdiivka, a large town between the two settlements, which has been largely flattened.