KYIV: Russian drones on Wednesday damaged infrastructure at a Ukrainian port on the Danube, as Moscow targeted facilities vital for grain shipments from Ukraine following the collapse of a key export arrangement.
Turkey, which along with the United Nations brokered the deal to allow Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, urged Russia after the port strike not to take steps that would escalate tensions.
Russia struck a grain elevator in the port of Izmail which sits just across the Danube river from Romania, damaging silos, warehouses and administrative buildings, Kyiv said.
Izmail is now the main export route for Ukrainian agricultural products via neighboring Romania, following Russia’s withdrawal last month from the Black Sea grain agreement.
The deal had allowed around 33 million tonnes of grain to leave Ukrainian ports, easing fears of food shortages.
Russia has been pounding the seaports in the Odesa region that were key for the grain exports granted safe passage under the deal.
“No steps should be taken that will escalate tensions in the Russia-Ukraine war,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a phone call.
Erdogan emphasized to Putin the significance of a grain deal that he called a “bridge for peace”, the Turkish leader’s office said.
AFP/APP
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