Russian drones attacking Ukraine‘s ports along the River Danube every night are endangering an important economic lifeline for Kyiv.
The recent days have seen a rise in the intensity of attacks that started more than a month ago.
Every morning, there is news of new explosions happening at places where grain is stored and at the ports in and around Reni and Izmail.
Ukraine is a big supplier of grain worldwide, but the war has caused serious problems in getting the supplies.
According to the governor of the Odesa region, Oleg Kiper, on Thursday night, 14 drones from Russia were destroyed over the area that includes the ports on the Danube River.
But a lot of drones get past and cause a lot of damage.
“They ruin the buildings and the machines that bring grain to other countries. ”
On Thursday, President Volodymyr Zelensky asked the British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, for assistance.
“We want others to join us in making the air defense of the Odesa region stronger,” he tweeted later.
What is the Ukraine grain deal.
Russia has come up with a new method to stop Ukraine from exporting grain.
Russia started sending drone attacks to the Danube ports after quitting the Black Sea Grain Initiative in mid-July. They believed that their own farmers were being treated unfairly.
The plan was made to help ships carrying grain travel safely to worldwide markets.
After Russia left, only a few ships, none of them carrying grain, have been able to leave Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
As a result, the Danube route has become very important now.
In simple words, it is safer for ships because when they enter the Black Sea from the river mouth, they immediately enter Romanian waters.
Many people go to the port of Costanta in Romania to send things to other places.
MrMarchuk said that the reason why Russia is attacking the Danube ports is very clear and easy to understand.
“He said Russia is doing this because Ukraine’s decrease in exports could create opportunities for them to sell in other countries. ”
“They want to expand into new markets that Ukraine cannot meet the demand for. ”
Grain is still being loaded onto ships at Reni and Izmail, but the fear of Russian attacks is increasing the price of insurance and making shipping companies reluctant to do business there.
In June and July, Ukraine sent about two million tonnes each month through the Danube River to other countries. They are aiming to increase this amount to about three million tonnes.
Even though there were attacks, the amount of exports in August went up to 2. 5However, the increasing costs of shipping are making it less valuable for Ukraine’s farmers.
Denys Marchuk said that we cannot know what will happen in the future.
“It’s really strong. ”
He repeated what the president said, asking for help from other countries.
“We hope that the Russians will stop their actions, and with the help of our allies, we can safeguard the port facilities. ”
The Black Sea Grain Initiative is still not moving forward, even though Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, tried to convince Vladimir Putin to change his decision.
Currently, the Danube route is the most significant option.
There are other ways to travel like driving or taking a train, but they are not as good.
Because of pressure from their own farmers, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia have stopped allowing the import of grain from Ukraine. However, the European Union (EU) has made special routes so that Ukrainian grain can still reach markets in the western part of Europe.
Because the River Danube is part of the border between Ukraine and NATO, Russia’s attacks have an extra political aspect.
A drone from Russia exploded in Romania, near Izmail, across the river.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian officials said something, but Romania at first said it wasn’t true.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, was very angry and said it was useless to say that something didn’t fall there.
He said that Nato countries were ignoring what Russia is doing.
“The partners usually try to avoid making a small problem into a big one,” he said, “so that they don’t end up in a big fight. ”
Romania finally agreed that they found pieces of Russian drones on their part of the river.
The government in Bucharest strongly disagrees with Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s Danube facilities. They don’t want the situation to escalate or become more serious.
In simple words, people in Romania do not want to use Article 5 of NATO, which is about all member countries defending each other, just because there are some small parts of a Russian drone found in a field.