Russian drone strikes on Odesa region cause fires at port
Russian troops hit port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Odesa region with Shahed drones overnight, the Ukrainian military reported, damaging a grain elevator and causing a fire at facilities that transport the country’s crucial grain exports
![Russia Ukraine War Shipping Grain](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/07/22/07/Russia_Ukraine_War_Shipping_Grain_94666.jpg)
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
![Head shot of Andrew Feinberg](https://static.independent.co.uk/static-assets/support-us/andrew-feinberg.png)
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
Russian troops hit port infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region with Shahed drones overnight, the Ukrainian military reported, damaging a grain elevator and causing a fire at facilities that transport the country's crucial grain exports.
Since leaving a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain to world markets through the city of Odesa, Russia has hammered the country's ports with strikes. Since July 17, Russian forces have fired dozens of drones and missiles at the port of Odesa and the region's river ports, which are being used as alternative routes.
“The goal of the enemy was clearly the facilities of the ports and industrial infrastructure of the region,” Ukraine's South operational command wrote in an update on Facebook. As a result of the attack, a fire broke out at industrial and port facilities, and a grain elevator was damaged.
Ukraine’s Air Force intercepted 23 Shahed drones over Ukraine overnight, according to its morning update, mostly in Odesa and Kyiv.
All 10 drones fired at Kyiv were intercepted, reported Serhii Popko, the head of Kyiv City Administration. Numerous loud explosions were heard overnight as air defense systems were activated. Debris from felled drones hit three districts of the capital, damaging a non-residential building, Popko said.
“Russian terrorists have once again targeted ports, grain facilities and global food security,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted Wednesday morning on Telegram. “The world must respond.”
He confirmed that some drones hit their targets, with the most “significant damage” in the south of Ukraine.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.