Ukraine war: Russia drone strikes cause port fire in grain-transporting facilities
- Port infrastructure in the Odesa region was hit, the latest in a wave of attacks on areas from which much-needed grain is exported
- With a blaze erupting and a grain elevator damaged, President Volodymyr Zelensky said ‘Russian terrorists have again targeted global food security’
Since July 17, Moscow’s 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.
02:56
Drones allegedly from Ukraine hit high-rise buildings in Moscow central districts
Ukraine’s air force intercepted 23 Shahed drones over the country overnight, mostly in Odesa and Kyiv, according to a morning update.
All 10 drones fired at Kyiv were intercepted, said Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv City Administration.
Numerous loud explosions were heard overnight as air defence systems were activated. Debris from felled drones hit three districts of the capital, damaging a nonresidential building, Popko said.
“Russian terrorists have once again targeted ports, grain facilities and global food security,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on 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.
Wheat prices rose about 3 per cent and corn prices were up nearly 2 per cent on Wednesday following the new attacks, showing the continued volatility in world markets as Russia targets Ukraine’s ports and agricultural infrastructure.
Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat, corn, vegetable oil and other agricultural products important to the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia where people are struggling with high food prices and hunger.
Ukraine can also export by road and rail through Europe, but those routes are more costly than going by the Black Sea and have stirred divisions among nearby countries.
Meanwhile, two civilians were wounded in shelling in the city of Kherson during the night, Oleksandr Prokudin, the regional governor, said on Wednesday.
A summary from Zelensky’s office said a doctor was killed and five medical personnel were wounded in an attack on a Kherson hospital, but did not specify if it happened on Wednesday or Tuesday.
In the eastern region of Donetsk, four people were wounded in Russian shelling over the past day, according to Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.
The area around the city of Nikopol, across the river from the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, was shelled three times, Governor Serhiy Lysak said.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
