A grain warehouse heavily damaged by a Russian drone attack is seen at a compound of a port on the Danube, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine August 16, 2023. Press Service of the Operational Command South of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS
Russian air raids on southern Ukraine overnight destroyed grain silos and warehouses at one of the Danube river ports, a critical facility for grain imports, claimed the governor of the Black Sea province of Odesa on Wednesday.
“Russian terrorists attacked the Odesa region twice last night with attack drones,” Governor Oleh Kiper declared on Telegram. “The main target is port and grain infrastructure in the region’s south.”
There were no injuries, according to a second statement from the presidential administration.
The governor’s photos show the shattered metal walls of the storage buildings, as well as mounds of dispersed grain and sunflowers.
Ukrainian officials have not yet said whether the attacked port is operating.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Ukraine’s Air Force said that it had destroyed 13 Russia-launched drones over the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions in the south. It was not immediately clear how many drones Russia launched.
Ukraine’s Danube ports accounted for around a quarter of grain exports before Russia pulled out of a U.N.-backed deal to provide safe passage for the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea in July
The ports have since become the main route out, with grain sent on barges to Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta for shipment onwards.
Earlier this month, Russia attacked Izmail – Ukraine’s main inland port across the Danube River from Romania, sending global food prices higher as it ramped up its use of force to prevent Ukraine from exporting grain.
The drone attacks destroyed buildings in the port and halted ships as they prepared to arrive there to load with Ukrainian grain in defiance of a de-facto blockade Russia reimposed in mid-July.