The attack was carried out using unmanned aerial vehicles in the early hours of Monday, the Reuters news agency reported.
In a three-and-a-half drone strike, Russia hit warehouses and production facilities in Izmail, a port on the Danube River in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, officials said.
Drone debris also set fire to a number of civilian infrastructure buildings, according to the governor of the Odesa region.
Russian drones also targeted the nearby Kili district, Ukraine’s air force said.
Ukraine’s air defence brought down 17 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) fired at the Odesa region, according to governor Oleg Kiper.
Writing on the Telegram social messaging app, Kiper said, as quoted by Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, that “unfortunately there were also hits.”
Monday’s attack on Izmail came a day after Russia struck Reni, Ukraine’s other major grain-exporting port on the Danube, The Guardian reported.
According to Russia’s defence ministry, the drones struck fuel depots used by the Ukrainian army.
The strike on Izmail occurred hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were due to hold talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi, Reuters reported.
The two were set to meet as Turkey and the United Nations push for a resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, designed to safeguard the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, which had helped alleviate a global food crisis, according to officials.
Russia quit the deal in July, and began a series of strikes on Ukraine’s ports on the Danube, which has since become the main route out for Ukrainian grain exports, Reuters noted.
Ukraine advances in east and south in counteroffensive against Russia
Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces continued their summer counteroffensive against Russia’s invading army, making gains in the east and southeast on Sunday, the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported.
Ukrainian units advanced near the Russian-held city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Donetsk region, and in the southeastern Zaporizhzhia province, the US think tank said.
Ukraine’s General Staff said that Kyiv’s forces had carried out offensive operations in the direction towards the southern port of Melitopol on the Sea of Azov, in the western part of Zaporizhzhia.
According to geolocated footage published on Saturday and Sunday, Ukrainian forces control southern Klishchiivka, in the Bakhmut district, the ISW reported.
Moreover, Ukrainian Tavriisk Group of Forces Spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun stated that Ukrainian forces had achieved successes in the direction of Verbove, 18 kilometres southeast of Orikhiv, in Zaporizhzhia, the US think tank added.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
Monday is day 558 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Reuters, The Guardian, ISW, Ukrainska Pravda