Russian drones targeted Ukrainian ports in the southern Odesa and Danube river regions, setting one grain storage facility alight, Ukrainian military and local authorities said on Wednesday.
The attacks overnight were the latest in series in recent weeks targeting port infrastructure on the Danube, as Moscow seeks to stop Ukraine moving grain across to the Romanian port of Constanta, having earlier quit a deal that had allowed Kyiv to ship out grain via the Black Sea.
"The enemy hit grain storage facilities and a production and transhipment complex in the Danube region. A fire broke out in the warehouses and was quickly contained. Firefighters continue to work," the Ukrainian military said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
The military published photographs showing piles of grain under the burnt and wrecked shell of the storage facility.
Odesa governor Oleh Kiper said the attack on the region lasted for three hours and the Ukrainian air force had destroyed nine Russian drones.
"Unfortunately, there were hits to the production and transhipment complexes where a fire broke out... The damage includes grain storage facilities," Kiper said on Telegram.
Ukraine's Danube ports accounted for around a quarter of grain exports before Russia pulled out of a UN-backed deal to provide safe passage for the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea in July.
The ports have since become the main route out, with grain also sent on barges to Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta for shipment onwards.
Global grain prices rose earlier this month, when Russia attacked Izmail - Ukraine's main inland port across the Danube River from Romania, and the port of Reni.
Source: AAWSAT