Russia’s intensive attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa following its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Agreement has reportedly damaged the Chinese consulate building in Odessa in the process.

Oleh Kiper, the military head of the Odessa region, said on the Telegram messaging app that the Chinese consulate building was damaged in a Russian attack overnight, posting a photo of the building with broken windows, Reuters reported.

Kiefer said, “The aggressor (Russia) is deliberately attacking the port infrastructure. The Chinese consulate was damaged, as well as administrative and residential buildings nearby,” he said, “which shows that the enemy does not care about anything.”

The implication is that Russia has been so indiscriminate in its attacks that it has even damaged diplomatic facilities in friendly China.

In a question-and-answer statement to reporters on its website, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed that “an explosion occurred near the Consulate General of the Republic of China in Odessa, damaging part of the consulate’s exterior wall and windows.”

“Personnel have already been evacuated and there were no casualties,” the spokesperson said, adding, “We are in constant communication with the relevant parties and will take all necessary measures to safeguard the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel in Ukraine,” but there was no mention of Russian bombing.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also issued a statement, saying he “strongly condemns the Russian attacks against Odessa and other Ukrainian Black Sea port facilities.”

“The destruction of civilian infrastructure constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law,” Guterres said, adding, “The attacks have repercussions beyond Ukraine’s borders. We are already seeing a negative impact on international wheat and corn prices.”

Russia has been carrying out massive air strikes on the Ukrainian ports of Odessa and Mykolaiv, two of the country’s main grain export hubs, for three consecutive days.

The British newspaper The Guardian, citing Ukrainian sources, reported that two people were killed and at least 27 injured in Russia’s “retaliatory strikes” targeting the two locations.

The Ukrainian military claimed to have shot down five cruise missiles and 13 drones out of 19 fired by Russia.

Russia claimed to have hit military installations in Odessa and Mykolaiv.

Russia says it “continued retaliatory strikes against unmanned ship production and storage facilities in the Odessa region overnight” and “destroyed fuel and ammunition storage facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Mikolaiv.”

Russia had previously vowed to retaliate after the Crimea Bridge, which connects the occupied peninsula of Crimea to mainland Russia, was damaged by an underwater drone attack on July 17, 카지노사이트킴 labeling it an act of “terrorism” by Ukraine.

Ukraine, on the other hand, accused Russia of deliberately targeting its grain export routes after it terminated the Black Sea Grain Agreement.

In a late-night speech the day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “About 60,000 tons (of grain), which was supposed to be sent to China, was destroyed by Russian airstrikes.”