Russian drones destroy grain warehouses at Ukraine ports

Russian drones reportedly have attacked Ukraine’s Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, destroying grain warehouses and other facilities.

The attacks, using Iranian-supplied drones, follow Russia’s withdrawal this month from the Black Sea deal that allowed Ukraine to export its grain and threats by both Moscow and Kiev to target civilian carriers visiting ports, The Guardian reported.

"Russia hit another Ukrainian grain storage overnight. It tries to extract concessions by holding 400 million people hostage. I urge all nations, particularly those in Africa and Asia who are most affected by rising food prices, to mount a united global response to food terrorism," Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, wrote on Twitter on Monday, without identifying the location of the target.

“Warehouses where grain crops were stored were destroyed, tanks for storing other types of cargo were damaged. There was a fire in one of the production premises, which was promptly extinguished,” local police were quoted as saying by the news outlet.

Also Read | Russia attacks Ukraine's Danube export route in widening air strikes

The facilities are just across the river from Nato-member Romania.

Officials say more than 60,000 tonnes of grain have been destroyed in the past week, the BBC reported.

Odesa head Oleh Kiper, whose region also covers the Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, said in his Telegram channel that Russia had attacked the infrastructure there for four hours with Iranian-made drones.

He said a grain hangar and tanks for storage were destroyed. Other local officials say three warehouses were bombed.

Three drones out of about 15 involved in the attack were destroyed by air defences, Kiper added.

At least four people were injured in the attack.