On Sunday, just one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are due to discuss resurrecting a grain export agreement, Russian military targeted Ukrainian port infrastructure on the Danube River used for food shipments.
According to a local military spokesperson, the strikes injured at least two persons. After being struck by port infrastructure, a fire broke out but was immediately put out.
22 of the 25 drones deployed in the nocturnal strikes on the Odesa region, according to the Ukrainian Air Force, were shot down.
In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defence stated that it was aiming at gasoline storage facilities in the Ukrainian port of Reni that were used to feed Ukraine’s armed forces. The strike was effective, the Russian statement said, with “all assigned targets neutralised.”
The NATO member Romania issued a quick reprimand after the salvo crossed its border. The strike was denounced by Romania’s Ministry of Defence in “the strongest terms possible,” calling it “unjustified and gravely in violation of the principles of international humanitarian law.”
No direct threat to Romanian territory or its territorial seas, according to the government.
According to an assistant to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Kremlin intended for the strikes to spark a “food crisis” in the country.
“Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope that they will be able to provoke a food crisis and famine in the world,”the aide, Andriy Yermak, wrote on Telegram.
Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister of Russia, stated that his nation will be prepared to rejoin the accord as soon as it receives assurances that the advantages offered to Russia will be carried out.
