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Russia Says it Struck Ukrainian Warship, Harpoon Missiles Depot in Odesa

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Press service of the Joint Forces of the South Defense/Handout via REUTERS
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Press service of the Joint Forces of the South Defense/Handout via REUTERS
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Russia Says it Struck Ukrainian Warship, Harpoon Missiles Depot in Odesa

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Press service of the Joint Forces of the South Defense/Handout via REUTERS
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in a sea port of Odesa, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, Ukraine July 23, 2022. Press service of the Joint Forces of the South Defense/Handout via REUTERS

Russian forces have destroyed a Ukrainian warship and US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles in the Ukrainian port of Odesa, Russian news agencies quoted the defense ministry as saying on Sunday.

"A docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with US-supplied Harpoon anti-ship missiles were destroyed by long-range precision-guided naval missiles in Odesa seaport on the territory of a ship repair plant."

“It took less than 24 hours for Russia to launch a missile attack on Odesa’s port, breaking its promises and undermining its commitments before the UN and Turkey under the Istanbul agreement,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said. “In case of non-fulfillment, Russia will bear full responsibility for a global food crisis.”

“The invaders can no longer deceive anyone,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

Zelenskyy denounced the strikes as blatant "barbarism" that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday's deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.

The Ukrainian military had said Russian missiles hit the southern port on Saturday.

It was not clear how Saturday’s Russian airstrikes would affect the plan to resume shipping Ukrainian grain by sea in safe corridors out of three Ukrainian Black Sea ports: Odesa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Ukraine and Russia signed identical deals Friday with the UN and Turkey in Istanbul backing the plan.

Zelenskyy previously called the agreements “a chance to prevent a global catastrophe — a famine that could lead to political chaos in many countries of the world, in particular in the countries that help us.”

The head of Zelenskyy's office, Andriy Yermak, said on Twitter that the Odesa strike, coming so soon after the endorsement of the Black Sea deal, illustrated "the Russian diplomatic dichotomy.”

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World

Trump Says Iran Cannot Have a Nuclear Weapon

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Trump Says Iran Cannot Have a Nuclear Weapon

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Monday that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon amid a lack ⁠of progress in diplomatic ⁠efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict.

"The ⁠number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, ⁠a Nuclear ⁠Weapon," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

His comment came as the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between the US and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were two months ago.

Iran said Monday it is working to finalize a joint statement with Oman on a plan to manage the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fully reopening the waterway to commercial shipping has been a key demand of the United States, but it remains unclear whether the deal will meet Washington's criteria.

World

Iran Working to Finalize Hormuz Agreement with Oman

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Working to Finalize Hormuz Agreement with Oman

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iran said Monday it has reached an agreement with Oman over a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries, and the sides are now working to finalize details for a joint statement.

Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that “an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route.”

He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during the interim period.

The US has sought an acceptable deal on opening the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports and it was not clear whether this would meet Washington’s expectations.

Iran effectively closed the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — after Israel and the US attacked the country on Feb. 28.

Baghaei conceded the talks with Oman have gone slowly, “but we had planned, and still plan, to finalize the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement.”

His comments came as a 60-day deadline for finding an agreement to end the war expired, with no signs of a deal between the US and Iran.

World

Residents Jeer French PM on Visit to Fire-Hit Region

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)
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Residents Jeer French PM on Visit to Fire-Hit Region

France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)
France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu arrives for a meeting with officials at Technowest in Merignac, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, south-western France on August 17, 2026 following the giant wildfire. (AFP)

Dozens of residents on Monday jeered the French prime minister as he arrived in a region hit by wildfires earlier this summer, in a show of anger over the government's handling of the worst such crisis in France in decades.

Some 200 people dressed in black gathered in front of the town hall in Le Porge in southwestern France, where 183 homes burned down when wildfires swept through the Gironde region in late July and early August, at one point even threatening the city of Bordeaux.

They jeered, whistled and shouted anti-government slogans as the tinted-window car with a flashing light carrying Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu approached for a meeting with the mayor of Le Porge, Martial Zaninetti, an AFP correspondent said.

"Where is he? Where is he?" the crowd shouted.

"It would have been the least he could do" for the prime minister to meet the residents, said Tony Veiga, a 65-year-old pensioner. "It really amounts to treating us as if we don't matter."

Lecornu's office said he had spoken with affected residents and farmers.

"We have absolutely nothing to hide regarding how fire protection operations have been conducted over the past few weeks," Lecornu said as he met local officials in the nearby town of Merignac after leaving Le Porge.

He had already visited Le Porge on Sunday afternoon to tour the municipality with the mayor -- a trip that had not been announced and took place without press cameras.

There is anger in the region among some residents who allege authorities prioritized fighting fires in the upscale Cap-Ferret peninsula -- where many affluent Parisians take holidays -- over protecting homes of local residents.

"He doesn't want to meet us; it's a shame. We had things we wanted to say," said Ludivine Daurignac, organizer of a group of affected residents who plan to file complaints and get "truth, transparency, and justice".

"We were met by lines of riot police blocking our access," she said.

Having burned through 42,000 hectares, the fire was brought under control on August 1.

It was the largest such fire in France by surface area since 1949, with the flames coming within 15 kilometers (10 miles) of the Bordeaux metropolitan area and forcing the evacuation of more than 220,000 residents and tourists.