Russia wages attacks on grain warehouses in the lower Danube

After attacking the grain exporting port city of Odesa in southern Ukraine for a week in a row, Russia attacked grain warehouses on the lower Danube River as well. They were a detour for grain exports and were located where it was closest to Romania, a NATO member country.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on Monday, grain stores in Reni, a port town on the lower Danube River, about 200 kilometers southwest of Odesa, were attacked by Russian military drones. Reni, located in the Danube River Delta, bordering Ukraine and Romania, is considered a base that can replace grain exports through Odesa. Reni's head of military administration, Oleh Kiper, confirmed via Telegram that the drone strikes, which lasted four hours, injured seven people and shot down three drones.

Russian military attacks on Reni led to a 6.2% rise in international grain prices the same afternoon. In the Danube River Delta region, where the borders of Ukraine, Romania, and Moldova meet, 2 million tons of Ukrainian grain has recently been exported every month. The attacks threatened global food security by blocking the detour route of grain exports to the Black Sea, the New York Times reported, while increasing the chance of a direct military confrontation with the West since Russian forces attacked the area closest to NATO member territory since the invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

The Russian attack came after Ukrainian drone strikes damaged two buildings near the Ministry of Defense in Moscow. Ukraine's deputy prime minister said more drone strikes would be launched against Moscow and Crimea. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said at a regular briefing that day, "In general, we do not support an attack inside Russian territory (by Ukrainian forces)," drawing a line from providing support for an attack on the Russian mainland.


Eun-A Cho achim@donga.com