What the Black Sea strikes showed by 9 November 2023

What was the picture on the southern front and the Black Sea coast on 9 November 2023? The reports from the preceding days describe a steady exchange of strikes involving ports, shipping and naval assets.

On 8 November, a Russian missile struck a Liberian-flagged vessel as it entered the Pivdennyi Port in Odesa Oblast. One crew member was killed and four were injured. The ship was being used to transport iron ore to China.

Two days earlier, on 6 November, Russian forces attacked Odesa with drones and missiles. At least eight people were injured, and infrastructure was damaged, including the Odesa Fine Arts Museum.

Ukrainian strikes on Crimea

Ukraine also struck. On 4 November, Ukrainian forces hit the Zalyv Shipbuilding yard in Russian-occupied Kerch, Crimea, with cruise missiles. The strike damaged the Russian corvette Askold.

Losses near the front

On 3 November, a Russian missile strike killed more than 20 Ukrainian soldiers at an awards ceremony near the front line in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the incident could have been avoided, and the losses prompted anger.

Taken together, the reports from 3 to 8 November show attacks on a commercial vessel heading to a Ukrainian port, on a major city's infrastructure and cultural site, on a shipyard in Crimea and on troops gathered behind the front line.