Ukraine on Wednesday accused Moscow of attacking grain warehouses at a Danube port in the southern Odessa region with drones and claimed the recapture of a village on the southern front as part of its counter-offensive. against Russia. “Russian terrorists carried out two drone attacks in the Odessa region overnight,” Odessa region governor Oleg Kiper announced on social media.
“Consequence of enemy strikes on one of the Danube ports: grain warehouses were damaged,” he added. These ports have become a key platform for grain exports since Moscow pulled out of an agreement on such exports through the Black Sea in July. Ukrainian forces announced that they shot down 13 drones overnight in the southern regions of Odessa and Mykolaiev.
The main information to remember:
- Ukraine accuses Moscow of attacking grain warehouses in Odessa region with drones
- Ukraine claims capture of village on southern front of fighting
- First freighter leaves Ukrainian Black Sea port via new shipping lane
Russian strikes on Ukrainian ports: an attack on “global food security”, says Zelensky
The Ukrainian president also welcomed on Wednesday the departure of a first commercial cargo ship from the port of Odessa in the Black Sea despite Russian threats, an “important step” for the freedom of navigation off Ukraine. “Ukraine has just taken an important step in restoring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. The first civilian ship has passed through the new Ukrainian humanitarian corridor, departing from the port of Odessa,” Volodymyr Zelensky reported on X ( ex-Twitter).
Ukraine has just made an important step toward restoring the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. The first civilian vessel has passed through Ukraine’s new humanitarian corridor, departing from the port of Odesa. It’s currently on its way to the Bosporus.
Earlier, Ukraine…
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 16, 2023
A village taken over by Ukrainian forces
At the same time, kyiv announced that it had taken over a village in the Donetsk region as part of its counter-offensive against Russia. “Ourojaïné has been released. Our defenders are established nearby. The offensive continues” in the region, announced the Deputy Minister of Defense, Ganna Maliar, in a press release on social networks. The day before, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the resources of the Ukrainian army were “almost exhausted” and that the counter-offensive launched at the end of June by Kiev to retake the occupied areas was a failure.
Located in an area on the border of the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, partially occupied by Russia, Ourozhaine, whose pre-war population is estimated at around 1,000, is part of a group of villages that the Ukrainian forces have attempted to release in recent weeks. Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kyrylenko on Wednesday morning reported four people killed and seven others injured in the region by Russian forces in the past 24 hours.
First freighter leaves Ukrainian Black Sea port via new shipping lane
A first cargo ship has left the Ukrainian port of Odessa, on the Black Sea coast, via a new maritime corridor set up by Kiev, despite Russian threats, the Ukrainian minister in charge of infrastructure announced on Wednesday. “The container ship Joseph Schulte (…) has left the port of Odessa and is sailing along the temporary corridor established for civilian ships”, announced Oleksandre Kubrakov, quoted in a press release.
It is the first cargo to leave the major port of Odessa, in southern Ukraine, since July 16, the minister said. However, Russia had threatened to take as potential military targets any boat sailing to or from Ukrainian ports, following the expiry of the grain agreement in July. In response, kyiv had done the same with boats heading to or from Ukrainian ports occupied by Moscow.
On August 10, however, Ukraine announced that it had opened “temporary” corridors on the Black Sea – largely controlled by the Russian navy – to allow the movement of ships carrying its cereals.