Russian drones hit Ukraine grain stores near Romania
A Russian drone strike has hit Ukrainian port facilities at Izmail on the River Danube, a short distance from Nato member state Romania.
A grain warehouse and an elevator for loading grain were damaged.
Almost 40,000 tonnes of grain destined to African countries, China and Israel were damaged, Ukraine said.
Russia began targeting Ukraine’s ports after abandoning a UN deal that enabled the safe grain export between both countries across the Black Sea.
“These are the very ports that have become the foundation of global food security today,” Ukrainian minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said on his Twitter.
Video, filmed from the Romanian side of the Danube roughly 3km (1.9 miles) away, showed an extensive fire raging in the port area of Izmail early on Wednesday.
Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, condemned Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure “in the proximity of Romania” as unacceptable.
Odesa regional leader, Oleh Kiper, said emergency services were working on the site of the latest Russian attack and there were no reports of any casualties.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “unfortunately there has been damage” – and the regional chief posted several images on social media indicating that several structures had been hit.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said an elevator had been damaged. Officials said the Izmail district prosecutor had launched an investigation into a cargo terminal, a warehouse and an elevator that were all damaged, without detailing exactly where in the Odesa region. —BBC
