Two people were hospitalized after a 3½-hour drone attack by Russia on a port in Ukraine’s Odesa region, news agency AP reported citing officials. The assault took place in the Reni seaport on Sunday.
The attack comes a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the resumption of food shipments from Ukraine under a Black Sea grain agreement that Moscow broke off from in July.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian forces fired 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones along the Danube River in the early hours of Sunday, 22 of which were shot down by air defenses, reported to AP.
Describing the assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said that it was part of a Russian drive “to provoke a food crisis and hunger in the world.”
As per AP, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that the attack was aimed at fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment.
Putin and Erdogan’s long-awaited meeting is due to take place in Sochi on Russia’s southwest coast on Monday.
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