Russian drones attacked a Ukrainian port near the Romanian border during a three-hour overnight barrage that risked triggering a global food crisis and bringing NATO into the conflict.
Ukraine said today that it had destroyed 22 Russian drones out of 25 launched on the southern Odesa region, as Moscow said it struck the Danube port of Reni.
Russian Drone Attack in Ukraine, Near Romanian Border
After withdrawing from an agreement that guaranteed safe passage for ships carrying grain from Ukrainian ports, Russia has been targeting Ukrainian port infrastructure in the Odessa area for weeks.
Per Daily Mail, prosecutors in Ukraine reported that some of the drones struck the Danube region, injuring at least two persons. In one video shared on social media, a large detonation occurs at night, while in another, a port building is engulfed in flames, and cinders are seen drifting through the air.
The Russian army claimed to have attacked 'fuel storage facilities' in Reni, Romania, which is located across the Danube from NATO and EU member Romania.
The attack on the Reni seaport comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a July-abandoned Black Sea grain agreement.
According to Republic World, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a press release that the assault targeted petroleum storage facilities used to supply military equipment.
Monday will mark the long-awaited meeting between Putin and Erdogan in Sochi, on Russia's southwest coast. Officials from Turkey have verified that the two countries will discuss reviving the Black Sea grain initiative, which the Kremlin abandoned six weeks ago.
The agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022, had permitted nearly 33 million metric tonnes (36 million tonnes) of grain and other commodities to depart three Ukrainian ports safely despite the Russian conflict.
However, Russia withdrew from the pact after alleging that a parallel agreement promising to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertilizer exports had not been honored. Moscow complained that transportation and insurance restrictions impeded its agricultural trade despite the fact that it has shipped record quantities of wheat since last year.
The Sochi summit follows Thursday's discussions between the Russian and Turkish foreign ministers, during which Russia presented the West with a list of actions necessary for Ukraine's Black Sea exports to resume.
Erdogan has expressed support for Putin's stance. In July, he stated that Putin had "certain expectations from Western countries" regarding the Black Sea agreement and that it was "vital that these countries act in this regard."
Ukraine's Corruption Crackdown
Meanwhile, Zelensky has decided to dismiss Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov and replace him with the director of the country's primary privatization fund.
Zelensky's announcement during his nightly video address to the nation on Sunday sets the stage for the greatest reorganization of Ukraine's defense establishment during the February 2022 conflict with Russia.
Reznikov, who was appointed defense minister in November 2021, has helped secure billions of dollars in Western military aid for the war effort. However, he has been plagued by corruption allegations that he has characterized as smears.
The decision follows a crackdown on corruption in Ukraine, which Zelensky has stressed. As the conflict continues without end, Kyiv has applied to join the European Union, and the public has become extremely sensitive to corruption.
The change in the minister of defense must be authorized by parliament but is likely to receive majority support from the Verkhovna Rada, ABC.net reported.
