August 16|

Russia resumed its attacks on grain infrastructure in the Odessa region of southern Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. Several drones attacked warehouses and ports along the Danube River overnight, which Kiev has increasingly used to transport its grain to Europe after Moscow broke a crucial wartime deal to export it via the Black Sea.

Meanwhile, a full cargo ship that had been stuck in the port of Odessa since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 17 months ago set sail and was heading for the Bosporus via the Black Sea using a temporary corridor set up by Ukraine for merchant traffic.

The Ukrainian economy, strained by the war, is heavily dependent on agriculture. Its agricultural exports, like Russia’s, are also crucial to global supplies of wheat, barley, sunflower oil and other foodstuffs on which developing countries depend.

After the Kremlin last month tore up an agreement negotiated last summer by the United Nations and Turkey to ensure the safe export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, Kiev has tried to reroute goods via the Danube and road and rail links to Europe. But transport costs are much higher along those routes, some European countries have expressed misgivings about the consequences for local grain prices, and Danube ports cannot handle as much volume as sea ports.

Advertisement

20240920_mh_amnistia_fiscal_728x90

20240813_lechematerna_728x91

20240701_vacunacion_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

20230816_dgs_728x90

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

CEL

The main target of the night’s drone bombing was port terminals and grain silos, Odessa Governor Oleh Kiper said. That included ports in the Danube delta. Anti-aircraft defenses managed to intercept 13 drones, Kiper noted.

In attacks in recent weeks, Russia has hit ports in the Danube delta, which are just 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the Romanian border. The Danube is Europe’s second longest river and a crucial transport route.
Meanwhile, the container ship leaving Odessa was the first ship to sail since July 16, according to Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister. It had been in Odessa since February 2022.

The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte was sailing through a temporary corridor that Ukraine had asked the International Maritime Organization to ratify. The United States has warned that the Russian military is preparing possible attacks against civilian cargo ships in the Black Sea.

Underwater mines also make travel dangerous and insurance costs are likely to be high for ship operators. Ukraine told the IMO it would offer “guarantees of compensation for damages.”

A Russian ship fired warning shots last Sunday at a Palau-flagged cargo ship in the southern Black Sea. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Sukru Okan was sailing north to the Ukrainian port of Izmail on the Danube.

Advertisement

20240920_mh_amnistia_fiscal_728x90

20240813_lechematerna_728x91

20240701_vacunacion_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

20230816_dgs_728x90

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

CEL

Tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press confirmed that the Joseph Schulte was heading south.

The Joseph Schulte was carrying more than 30,000 tons of goods in 2,114 containers, including foodstuffs, according to Kubrakov.

The corridor, he said, will be used primarily to evacuate ships trapped in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odessa and Pivdennyi since the outbreak of the war.

On the front, Ukrainian authorities announced another milestone in the tough Ukrainian counteroffensive. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said troops had retaken a village in the eastern Donetsk region.

The village of Urozhaine is near Staromaiorske, a village that Ukraine also claimed to have recaptured recently. It was not possible to independently verify these claims.

Advertisement

20240920_mh_amnistia_fiscal_728x90

20240813_lechematerna_728x91

20240701_vacunacion_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

20230816_dgs_728x90

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

CEL

Ukraine appears to be breaking through Russian forces in the south, but it faces tight defensive lines and is advancing without air support.

Also on Wednesday, the Russian military said it had shot down three drones in the Kaluga region southwest of Moscow and attributed the attack to Ukraine. No deaths or injuries were reported.