Overnight on August 23, Russian drones struck Ukrainian grain facilities at the Danube River port of Izmail in what a senior official told Reuters was a systematic attempt by Moscow to prevent Kyiv exporting grain to the world.
Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said the port's export capacity had been reduced by 15% and that 13,000 metric tons of grain had been destroyed. The grain was en route to Egypt and Romania. He noted several private grain terminals and warehouses were damaged, as well as cargo infrastructure.
Grain facilities in the Odesa region on the Black Sea have been attacked eight times since Russia quit a UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative in July. In total, 270,000 tons of grain have been destroyed by Russia since it left the deal.
Because of the attacks and Russia's de-facto blockade of the Black Sea, Ukraine has been looking for alternative export routes.
It was reported this week that Ukraine and Romania signed an agreement on August 18 to work together to boost Kyiv’s export of grain through Romania borders with the port of Constanta remaining a key transport route for getting Ukraine’s goods to the international market.
Russia, Türkiye and Qatar are also preparing a new agreement on grain exports primarily aimed at African countries which could be finalized by this weekend.
