Romanian foreign minister condemns Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports

Romania’s minister of foreign affairs, Luminița Odobescu, condemned Russia’s most recent attacks on Ukrainian ports near the Romanian border.

“I strongly condemn the continued Russian attacks on innocent people, civilian infrastructure, including grain silos in Ukrainian ports of Reni and Ismail. By these flagrant violations of international law, Russia continues to jeopardize world food security and the safety of navigation in the Black Sea,” Odobescu wrote on Twitter, cited by Digi24.

Ukrainian air forces stated on Wednesday, August 16, that a large group of Russian army drones entered the Danube Delta and headed towards the river port of Izmail, near the border with Romania. Grain silos and warehouses were damaged in the Russian attacks during the night on one of Ukraine's Danube ports, as announced by Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region.

A quarter of the cereal exports were transported through Ukraine’s Danube ports before Russia withdrew from the UN-supported agreement that ensured safe passage on the Black Sea. Since then, the Izmail and Reni ports have become the main exit route, with cereals being sent by barges to the port of Constanța for further shipment. A Russian attack on the Izmail port led to a rise in global food prices at the beginning of August.

Last week, Ukraine announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release cargo ships that have been trapped in ports since Russia pulled out of the deal allowing for the ships' safe passage to bring the grain to world markets. Russia, however, has not said whether it will respect the corridor, according to DW.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have continued their slow advance into Russian-held areas of Donetsk.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos | Octav Ganea)