(Reuters) – Ukraine’s air force on Wednesday reported that a large group of Russian army drones had entered the mouth of the Danube River and were heading toward the Izmail river port near the border with Romania.
Social media groups have reported the sound of air defense systems firing in the area near the two Danube ports – Izmail and Reni.
Oleh Kiper, the governor of the southern Odesa region, urged residents of Izmail district to seek shelter at approximately 1:30 a.m. (2230 GMT) and lifted the air raid alert one hour later.
Ukraine’s Danube ports were responsible for about a quarter of grain exports before Russia withdrew from a U.N.-backed deal that provided safe passage for the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea. Since then, these ports have become the primary route for exporting grain, with barges transporting it to Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta for onwards shipment.
A Russian attack on the Izmail port earlier in August caused global food prices to rise.
(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Mark Porter and Stephen Coates)
Credit: The Star : News Feed
