By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) -Russian air strikes on southern Ukraine overnight damaged grain silos and warehouses at one of the Danube river ports, a key facility for grains shipments, the governor of the Odesa region on the Black Sea said on Wednesday.
“Russian terrorists attacked Odesa region twice last night with attack drones,” Governor Oleh Kiper said on the Telegram messaging app. “The main target is port and grain infrastructure in the south of the region.”
The presidential office said in a separate statement that there were no casualties.
Photos released by the governor show the destroyed metal walls of the storage facilities and piles of scattered 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.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Pavel Polityuk an Lidia Kelly; Editing by Stephen Coates)
