KYIV: Russia carried out its fourth drone attack in five days on Ukrainian port facilities on the Danube River on Thursday, damaging grain silos and other infrastructure on a vital export route for Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said.
The attack on Izmail district in southern Odesa region lasted three hours, governor Oleh Kiper said on Telegram messenger. Two truck drivers were hurt and a blast wave damaged several people’s homes, the general prosecutor’s office said.
Agricultural companies were also damaged, the military said, without specifying which.
The Ukrainian military reported shooting down 25 of 33 drones it said were launched by Russia overnight. Most were aimed at the Odesa region but some targeted the northern city of Sumy, it added.
One drone hit a residential area in Sumy, damaging a private house, 20 apartments in a high-rise building and two shops, the regional administration said on Telegram. It reported no casualties.
Russia has stepped up its attacks on Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure on the Danube and on the Black Sea port hub of Odesa since July 17, when it quit the UN-brokered deal that had allowed safe exports of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea.
On Thursday morning, Russia also shelled the village of Odradokamyanka in southern Kherson region, governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. A 50-year-old man died of wounds sustained in the attack and two others were wounded in a later attack on the village, he said.
Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2023
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