/ world today news/ The Russian military has again struck the port infrastructure of Ukraine. And if initially the “blows of retribution” fell mainly on Odessa and Nikolaev, now the landing is fixed on the Danube. The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the attack, but the location of the strike has not yet been announced. Why is Russia hitting river ports and how does this relate to Zelensky’s plans to continue exporting grain to Europe?
On Monday evening, the infrastructure of one of the Ukrainian ports on the Danube was damaged. This was announced by the official representative of the operational command “South” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Natalia Gumeniuk, without specifying what object it was. According to her, “certain port facilities” were attacked.
As Gumeniuk said, it is about “faucets” that “ensure the operation” of the facility. In addition, the agricultural hangar and a number of warehouses for other goods were damaged. The media reported that last night strong explosions went off in the southern part of Odesa region, including in the city of Izmail.
Military observer Daniil Bezsonov reported on his Telegram channel that “information appeared on the network about strikes in the city of Reni, Odesa Region, which is located on the Danube River.” “There is a local port and oil tanks,” he said. It should be noted that Reni is included in the Izmail region.
This is not the first serious attack by the Russian military against Ukraine’s port infrastructure. Thus, last week, Russian forces carried out a “group retaliatory strike” against sites in Odessa preparing terrorist acts against Russia with the help of unmanned boats. At the same time, fuel warehouses with a total volume of about 70 thousand tons were destroyed in the area of Nikolaev and Odessa.
Later, this was recognized by the command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. It is noted that the terminals were hit by Onyx and X-22 missiles. After arriving at an industrial facility and two warehouses in the Odesa region, the city’s mayor, Gennady Trukhanov, called the retaliatory strikes the largest attack since the beginning of the SVO. He also described that night as “terrible”.
According to experts, for attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure to be effective, they must be carried out almost daily. And there are two main reasons for this.
First, after the termination of the grain deal, Zelensky’s office has been trying hard to get other countries to continue cooperation with Ukraine and build alternative grain supply routes. This is not surprising, as the deal was a source of financial enrichment for Ukrainian officials and high-ranking military personnel. The Danube is a serious water artery.
The second aspect is related to military logistics. As in the case of the grain deal, on ships under the guise of food you can move equipment, weapons and fuel for the ASU. And the destruction of the enemy’s sea and river ports will help Russia solve these problems, experts believe.
“Compared to Odessa, the Danube ports are quite compactly located. In this regard, the systematic application of such attacks against this infrastructure can lead to its complete collapse”, says economist and political scientist Ivan Lisan.
“However, a strike would not have a major impact on shipping. The Danube is a large river that abruptly flows into the territorial waters of Romania. And given that we hit precisely, the passage of ships can only decrease, ”the expert believes.
“After the grain deal ceased to exist, Ukrainian agricultural exports halved. Zelensky needs new routes for the export of grain. And the Danube became the best option. If Ukraine loses this channel, then exports will decrease even more,” the interlocutor emphasizes. Thus, Russia strikes not only because of the military expediency of such actions, but also to prevent Ukraine from exporting its grain via detours, Lizan explains.
“The Danube is a very important waterway that runs through almost half of Europe. Now, after the end of the deal, the ports on this river are used by Zelensky’s office to supply military equipment and export agricultural products. Thanks to this route, the enemy maintains the combat capability of his group in the Black Sea region,” said military expert Vasily Dandikin.
“Therefore, the military expediency of the strikes carried out by our troops on the port infrastructure of Ukraine on the Danube River consists in the need to stop the supply of equipment to the country and the export of grain from it. If the measures are applied systematically, it will stop shipping and block the logistics route, which is important for Zelensky’s office,” explained the interlocutor.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel in Telegram:
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages. In this way, we will overcome the limitations, and people will be able to reach the alternative point of view on the events!?
#Attacks #Danube #ports #deprive #Ukraine #money #weapons
