By Russia launched a series of drone attacks on one of Ukraine’s major grain exporting ports, just hours before Russian President Vladimir Putin was set to meet with his Turkish counterpart. Ukraine’s Air Force issued an urgent call early on Monday, urging residents of the Izmail port to seek shelter. Izmail is one of the country’s primary grain-exporting facilities, located along the Danube River in the Odesa region.
Ukraine’s air defence forces managed to shoot down 17 drones, but unfortunately, some hits were still made. Several areas in the Izmail district saw damage to warehouses, production buildings, agricultural machinery, and equipment of industrial enterprises. Fortunately, preliminary reports indicate no casualties or injuries.
These drone attacks come at a critical juncture, coinciding with the meeting between Putin and Erdogan in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. The agenda for their meeting includes discussions about a Ukrainian grain export deal, which has played a crucial role in alleviating food shortages in various parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
This grain export deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022, allowed the export of nearly 33 million metric tonnes (36 million tonnes) of grain and other commodities from three Ukrainian ports, despite the ongoing Russian invasion. However, Russia withdrew from the agreement approximately six weeks ago, citing obstacles to its food and fertilizer exports and expressing dissatisfaction with the amount of Ukrainian grain going to countries in need.
As a result, Russia has been targeting the ports along the Danube River, which have become Ukraine’s primary route for grain exports. Monday’s attack, the full scale of which is not yet known, follows Russian attacks on Sunday on another major Danube port, Reni, where the port’s infrastructure was damaged, and at least two people were injured.
The United Nations has escalated its efforts to revive the grain export deal. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently sent a letter to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with concrete proposals aimed at facilitating Moscow’s exports to global markets. However, Russian officials have expressed dissatisfaction with the letter, describing it as a reiteration of previous UN ideas that did not gain traction.
