New Delhi, July 30 -- Three cargo ships ferrying weapons and military equipment to Ukraine's armed forces were struck by Russian forces in and around Odessa's port complex Wednesday, Russia's Defense Ministry announced, in the latest targeting of Black Sea shipping routes Moscow says sustain Kyiv's military supply chain.

a characterization Kyiv had not confirmed by Wednesday evening.

Independent verification of Russian Defense Ministry strike claims in the Black Sea theater has been consistently difficult throughout the Russian operation in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials typically neither confirm nor deny the identity of specific struck vessels, and third-party maritime monitoring groups often lag hours behind in producing damage assessme...