RUSSIA has pounded southern Ukrainian cities, including the port of Odessa, with drones and missiles for a third consecutive night, destroying some of the country’s critical grain export infrastructure.

In Odessa, at least two people were killed in Wednesday night’s attacks, which took place days after President Vladimir Putin had pulled Russia out of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain to countries facing the threat of hunger.

The aerial blitz intensified after Moscow vowed “retribution” earlier this week for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukraine.