Ukraine says it shot down six Russian missiles and 25 drones in southern Ukraine

On the night of July 18, the Ukrainian military shot down six Russian Kalibr missiles over Odesa, as well as 25 Shahed kamikaze drones in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, says Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) operational command South.

“Several waves of attack drones were aimed at identifying and depleting air defense forces. After that, six Kalibrs were fired from the waters of the Black Sea at Odesa,” the AFU said.

In Odesa, debris from downed missiles and the blast wave damaged port infrastructure and several private houses. A civilian was injured in one of them, says the head of the Odesa regional administration Oleh Kiper.

Vitali Kim, head of the Mykolaiv regional administration reports that an industrial facility in Mykolaiv was hit, and that a fire started as a result. There were no casualties.

Head of the Ukrainian president’s office, Andriy Yermak, linked the Russian attack on Ukraine's southern regions to Russia's attempt to prevent the export of Ukrainian grain.

“The overnight attack by the Russians on Odesa and Mykolaiv using rockets and Shaheds is further proof that the terrorist country wants to jeopardize the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

A total of six Russian Kalibr missiles, 31 Shahed-136/131 drones, and one reconnaissance drone were shot down by the Ukrainian military on the night of July 18, the AFU Air Force command said. According to their statement, the missiles and most of the drones were shot down in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, while the remaining drones were shot down in the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Dnipropetrovsk regions.