Russian drone strikes on Odesa region cause fires at port

FILE PHOTO:L Security personnel stand in front of a grain storage terminal at the Odesa Sea Port, in Odesa, Ukraine, on July 29, 2022. Russia has repeatedly fired missiles and drones at Ukrainian ports key to sending grain to the world. Moscow has declared large swaths of the Black Sea dangerous for shipping. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region with Shahed drones overnight, the Ukrainian military reported, damaging a grain elevator and causing a fire at facilities that transport the country’s crucial grain exports.

Since leaving a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain to world markets through the city of Odesa, Russia has hammered the country’s ports with strikes. Since July 17, Russian forces have fired dozens of drones and missiles at the port of Odesa and the region’s river ports, which are being used as alternative routes.

“The goal of the enemy was clearly the facilities of the ports and industrial infrastructure of the region,” Ukraine’s South operational command wrote in an update on Facebook. As a result of the attack, a fire broke out at industrial and port facilities, and a grain elevator was damaged.

READ: Russia strikes Ukraine’s Odesa port in ‘hellish’ attack – official

Ukraine’s Air Force intercepted 23 Shahed drones over Ukraine overnight, according to its morning update, mostly in Odesa and Kyiv.

All 10 drones fired at Kyiv were intercepted, reported Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv City Administration. Numerous loud explosions were heard overnight as air defense systems were activated. Debris from felled drones hit three districts of the capital, damaging a non-residential building, Popko said.

READ: Russia strikes Ukraine grain port after pulling out of export deal

“Russian terrorists have once again targeted ports, grain facilities and global food security,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted Wednesday morning on Telegram. “The world must respond.”

He confirmed that some drones hit their targets, with the most “significant damage” in the south of Ukraine.

READ: Russia hits military facility in Ukraine in new wave of strikes