- Russian drone attack damages grain storage facility and transportation elevator at Ukrainian port Izmail on the Danube.
- Nearly 40,000 tonnes of cereals destined for Africa, China, and Israel were damaged.
- Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of wheat and maize globally, and the attacks impact global food security.
A Russian drone attack has struck Ukrainian port facilities at Izmail on the Danube, not far from the NATO member state of Romania.
A grain storage facility and a grain transportation elevator were damaged.
Ukraine reported that nearly 40,000 tonnes of cereals destined for Africa, China, and Israel were damaged.
Russia began attacking Ukrainian ports after abandoning a United Nations agreement that facilitated secure grain exports across the Black Sea.
Ukrainian minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweeted, “These ports have become the foundation of global food security today.”
Wednesday morning footage captured from the Romanian side of the Danube approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) distant showed a massive fire raging in the port area of Izmail.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis condemned as unacceptable Russia’s continued assaults against Ukrainian infrastructure “near Romania.”
Odessa regional chairman Oleh Kiper said emergency services were heading to the latest Russian strike and no one was hurt.
President Volodymyr Zelensky stated, “Unfortunately, there has been damage,” and the regional administrator posted multiple images on social media indicating that multiple structures had been damaged.
The Ukrainian defense ministry reported that a lift was damaged. Officials reported that the Izmail district prosecutor had opened an investigation into the destruction of a cargo terminal, a warehouse, and a lift, without specifying where in the Odessa region.
Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of wheat and maize in the globe.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said that Ukraine and Russia supplied 90% of Somalia’s wheat in 2021.
Due to years of drought, about 50 million Somalians, Kenyans, Ethiopians, and South Sudanese need food aid.
According to the United Nations, under the grain deal, Ukraine shipped 625,000 tonnes of food to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen as humanitarian assistance.
After grain exports at the Ukrainian port were damaged, France accused Russia of “deliberately endangering global food security.”
Russian drones attacked grain warehouses in Reni, further up the Danube River and adjacent to Romanian territory, a week ago.
President Iohannis stated on Wednesday that the attacks so close to Romania were war crimes that impeded Ukraine’s “ability to transfer food products to those in need around the world.”
According to authorities, Russia destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain in Odesa and Chornomorsk.
The West has accused Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of “weaponizing” food. However, in a phone conversation with Turkey’s president on Wednesday, he emphasized that he would not return to the UN agreement until Russia’s exports of cereals and fertilizer were guaranteed.
Moscow is frustrated by its export difficulties and desires sanctions to be eased.
Russia threatened to target any vessels heading towards Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, where the majority of Ukraine’s shipments had been moving, when it withdrew from the grain agreement on 17 July, effectively imposing a naval blockade.
Now that Ukraine cannot export via its primary Black Sea ports, the Danube is the next best option. Moscow hopes that the spectacle of burning warehouses and silos will diminish its allure.
Even with the river route, it is anticipated that grain exports from Ukraine will fall by another 50 percent. It is additionally more expensive logistically.
Russia is sending a not-so-subtle message by repeatedly attacking Ukrainian ports: you need us to export foodstuffs.
These conversations revolve on Ukraine’s faltering economy and millions at risk of famine if its grain isn’t shipped.
Ships have proceeded to navigate the Black Sea to Ukraine’s Danube ports. Additionally, grain can reach the Danube via road or rail via Moldova and Ukraine.
Once it reaches the Danube, the majority of the grain is transported by river to the Romanian port of Constanta on the Black Sea, from where it can be exported securely to the south.
On Wednesday, Ukraine’s port registry listed Izmail as open, but sources told Reuters that activities had been halted.
Additionally, grain is exported via Poland by land.
With the aid of “solidarity lanes” established by the European Union, Ukraine has investigated alternative potential routes. This week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced a Danube and Adriatic Sea facility deal with Croatia.
Some governments have made Ukrainian grain transit between EU nations a domestic concern due to its impact on local markets. Poland and Romania are among the EU members that have provisionally prohibited the sale of Ukrainian wheat and maize on their domestic markets while permitting transit to other markets.
As soon as Russia withdrew from the grain agreement, wheat prices skyrocketed on international markets.
There are now also concerns regarding global food security, particularly for the impoverished nations of Africa and Asia.
Local officials claim that Russia launched more than ten drones against the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv overnight.
Officials say that while all projectiles were destroyed by anti-aircraft systems, several non-residential structures were damaged by falling debris.
