Russian drone attack destroys port infrastructure in Odesa region

Russian forces attacked port infrastructure in Ukraine's southern Odesa region on Wednesday.

The consequences of Russia's night drone attack on ports were published on Facebook by the South Operational Command and Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa regional military administration, on Telegram.

In the south of the Odesa region, as a result of attacks by unmanned aerial vehicles, fires broke out at port and industrial infrastructure facilities, and an elevator was damaged.

Background

On July 17, Russia announced it would terminate its participation in the agreement with Turkiye and the UN or the Black Sea Grain Initiative. President Volodymyr Zelensky explained that the agreement between Ukraine, Turkiye, and the UN on exporting agricultural products remains valid.

On July 19, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation threatened that countries under whose flags ships would be sent to Ukrainian ports would be considered involved in the war. At the same time, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin said that Russia would resume its participation in the grain agreement only if the West met several demands.

After pulling out of the grain agreement, Russia has attacked the south of Ukraine almost every night. Missile strikes are carried out on Odesa and the region. According to British intelligence, Russia generally refrained from targeting civilian infrastructure in southern ports between August 2022 and June 2023, when the Black Sea Grain Initiative was still active.

However, since the beginning of the war, Russia's strikes have been characterized by "poor intelligence and an ineffective targeting process," the British Ministry of Defense said.

As reported, on July 24, the Russian army attacked a port in the Odesa region with drones, destroying a grain hangar. On July 21, the Russian forces attacked an agricultural enterprise in the Odesa region at night with Kaliber missiles aimed at grain warehouses and a building storing agricultural machinery.