Russia Attacks Ukraine Grain, Cities With Iranian Drones

Moscow’s military launched over ten Iranian-made Shahed drones against Ukraine’s capital and several others at a grain export terminal in the south of the country.

The attacks on Wednesday destroyed buildings in the port of Izmail, near NATO member Romania, and halted ships in their tracks as they prepared to arrive there to load up with Ukrainian grain in defiance of a de-facto blockade Russia reimposed in mid-July.

"Russian terrorists have once again attacked ports, grain, global food security," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Telegram.

Chicago wheat prices rose by nearly 5 percent following the attack due to concern about a hit to global supplies from Ukraine.

More than 10 drones launched against Kyiv were all shot down according to Ukraine’s military but falling debris caused fires and damage to residential areas.

Governor Oleh Kiper of the southern Odesa Oblast said that some of the Iranian drones flying toward the grain port were shot down but others got through inflicting heavy damage to grain exporting facilities. He appealed to Ukraine's partners to provide more air defense systems to defend against Russian strikes.

Iran has supplied Russia with hundreds of Shahed kamikaze drones since mid-2022 that have been extensively used against civilian and infrastructure targets.

The United States and its European allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran for the drone deliveries and warned Tehran to stop its arms supplies to Moscow. Iranian officials continue to deny sending the drones despite overwhelming physical evidence provided to Western government and media.