Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike in the port of Odesa, Ukraine, on July 23. (Joint Forces of the South Defence/Reuters)

There is "no indication" that Russia hit a Ukrainian warship and military targets in missile strikes on the port of Odesa at the weekend, according to a British intelligence report.

"The Russian MoD claimed to have hit a Ukrainian warship and a stockpile of anti-ship missiles. There is no indication that such targets were at the location the missiles hit," the UK Ministry of Defence said Tuesday.

It said Russia perceives anti-ship missiles as a "key threat" and claims Moscow will continue to prioritize its efforts to destroy Ukraine's anti-ship capability, but that its "targeting processes are highly likely routinely undermined by dated intelligence, poor planning and a top-down approach to operations."

The attack on Odesa on Saturday came just a day after Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement to allow grain exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, leading to anger and concern over the future of a deal aimed at easing the global food crisis sparked by war.

Russia's denial: Moscow has claimed it struck military targets, including a naval ship and an ammunition depot, in the "high precision strikes" on Odesa and that it did not impact grain exports from the harbor.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated Moscow's defense of the strikes while he was in the Republic of Congo on Monday.

“As for the targets of those high-precision strikes, they are located in a separate part of the Odesa port, in the so-called military part of the Odesa port,” he said.

“These targets were the combat boat of the naval forces of Ukraine and the ammunition depot, where the Harpoon anti-ship missiles were recently delivered. They were brought there to pose a threat to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.”

Source: CNN