Ukrainian officials say that on Sunday, Russian drones hit Danube River port infrastructure that is important for grain exports from Ukraine. At least two people were hurt in the attack, which took place in the southern parts of the Odesa region.
Since Russia broke a deal with the U.N. and Turkey in July that let Ukraine send grains, oilseeds, and vegetable oils through the Black Sea, Ukraine’s main grain export route is now the Danube.
The attack on Sunday happened the day before Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan were to meet in the Russian vacation city of Sochi on the Black Sea. Turkey has been trying hard to get the grain deal back on track.
The Ukraine South Military Command said on social media that at least two people were hurt in the early morning attack on what it called “civil infrastructure of the Danube.”
The Ukrainian Air Force said that 22 of the 25 Shahed drones made in Iran and sent by Russia were shot down by air defense weapons.
Officials didn’t say which port building was hit, but Ukrainian media said there were explosions in the Reni port. Along with Izmail, Reni is one of Ukraine’s two major Danube ports. The military said that a fire at the site caused by the attack was quickly put out.
Interfax said that the Russian Defense Ministry said that a group of Russian drones hit fuel stores at the port of Reni that the Ukrainian military used.
Reuters could not check the stories on its own.
In the past few weeks, Russian drones have struck Reni and Izmail several times.
“Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in order to cause a food crisis and famine around the world,” the chief of staff for the Ukrainian president, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram.
He put up a picture of a fireman spraying water on burned-out concrete buildings.
The goal of the Black Sea grain deal, which was made in July 2022, was to ease a worldwide food shortage. Ukraine is a big producer of grains and oilseeds, and when war broke out in February of last year, its exports were stopped. This caused food prices around the world to reach record highs.
Russia has said that the deal makes it harder for it to sell food and fertilizer abroad and that not enough Ukrainian grain is going to countries that need it.
