Odesa's ports under fire in early November 2023

What did the first ten days of November 2023 show about the war at sea and along Ukraine's southern coast? By 10 November 2023, the preceding days had brought a run of strikes on both sides, centred on Odesa and Crimea.

On 4 November 2023, Ukrainian forces struck the Zalyv Shipbuilding yard in Russian-occupied Kerch, Crimea, with cruise missiles. The attack damaged the Russian corvette Askold.

Two days later, on 6 November 2023, Russian forces attacked Odesa with drones and missiles. At least eight people were injured, and infrastructure was damaged, including the Odesa Fine Arts Museum.

On 8 November 2023, a Russian missile struck a Liberian-flagged vessel entering the Pivdennyi Port in Odesa Oblast. One crew member was killed and four were injured. The ship was being used to carry iron ore to China.

What the sequence shows

Taken together, the three incidents show fighting that reached shipyards, a port approach and a city's cultural institutions within a single week. Ukrainian missiles hit a naval vessel in occupied Crimea, while Russian missiles and drones hit Odesa and a merchant ship bound for one of its ports. The casualties on the Liberian-flagged vessel show the risk that commercial shipping and its crews faced around Odesa Oblast's ports.