Iran-Made Drone Damages Grain Storage Facility In Southern Ukraine

A Russian strike by an Iran-made drone hit a grain storage facility in the southern Ukrainian region of Odessa overnight.

The attack resulted in damage to the facility and some of the stored grain, though the primary target of the drones appeared to be the Danube port infrastructure.

"Unfortunately, there was a hit on port infrastructure. A grain storage facility was damaged, there is damage directly to the grain itself," Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for the southern military command, told an online briefing. The quantity of damaged grain was not disclosed by her.

In response to the aerial threat, Ukrainian air defenses successfully intercepted and destroyed ten Shahed-type drones in the vicinity. Additionally, four more drones were downed in the Mykolaiv Oblast, according to the defense forces Telegram channel.

On Tuesday, Russia launched a total of 36 Iranian drones at Ukraine. Of these, 27 were neutralized by Ukrainian air defense systems. The Iran-manufactured Shahed drones executed attacks in the Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions, with the assault on Odessa Oblast persisting for three hours and specifically targeting transport infrastructure.

Since mid-2022, Iran has reportedly supplied a substantial number of kamikaze Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to Russia, which have been extensively deployed to target civilian infrastructure and cities. The drones have also been incorporated into large-scale missile attacks, overwhelming Ukrainian air defenses.

Despite Iran's denials regarding its involvement in supplying drones and potentially other weaponry to Russia, the United States and its NATO allies have imposed a series of sanctions on individuals and entities implicated in the drone shipments.