Russian drones hit industrial sites on the Danube overnight from Saturday to Sunday in the southwestern region of Ukraine bordering Romania, a NATO member country which denounced an “unjustified” attack. Since the suspension in July of the agreement which allowed Ukraine to export its cereals via the Black Sea, Russia has been increasing its attacks in this region where there are ports and other infrastructures essential for this trade.
“The enemy has attacked civilian industrial infrastructure in the Danube region,” Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Telegram. “The attack left two injured, who were hospitalized,” he added. However, according to the prosecutor, the Ukrainian forces managed to shoot down 22 of the 25 drones used in this attack. The Russian army, for its part, indicated that it had carried out a drone attack against the port of Reni, on the border with Romania.
An attack near the border with Ukraine
“Last night, the Russian air force carried out a group strike with drones on fuel depots used to refuel military equipment of the Ukrainian army in the port of Reni”, indicated the Russian Ministry of Defense, assuring that the objective of the strike had been “achieved” and all targets hit. Romania immediately protested against this new attack which occurred near its border with Ukraine.
In a statement, the Romanian Ministry of Defense “reaffirmed in the strongest terms that these attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure in Ukraine are unjustified and in profound contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law”. “At no time” did the Russian attacks “generate a direct military threat to the national territory or the territorial waters of Romania”, however specified the ministry.
A direct attack against a NATO member country could cause a runaway conflict, at a time when Kiev assures that its counter-offensive launched in June – and criticized by some allies for its supposed slowness – is producing results.
“It’s all to come”
In charge of the counter-offensive in the south of the country, General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy assured that the kyiv army had made a major breakthrough in the Russian defense lines in this area. “We are now between the first and the second line of defense” Russian, he said in an interview published this weekend in the British daily The Guardian. A few days earlier, kyiv had claimed a symbolic victory with the recapture of the village of Robotyne (south).
“We are now in the process of destroying the enemy units responsible for protecting the Russian troops when they retreat behind their second line of defense”, assured the general, whose troops had liberated the city of Kherson (south) the last year.
Returning to the skepticism surrounding the Kiev counter-offensive, General Tarnavskiy also assured that the Ukrainian army had been delayed because it “spent more time than expected clearing the territories” occupied by the Russians.
However, he was confident for the future. “The enemy is drawing on its reserves, not only in Ukraine but also in Russia. Sooner or later, the Russians will run out of their best soldiers. This will give us an opportunity to attack them more and faster,” he said. he declares. “It’s all to come,” he said.