Ukraine updates: Russia strikes grain route near Romania

Russia's defense ministry says it had placed restrictions on the movement of ships and aircraft in the Kerch Strait, which separates Russia from the occupied Crimean Peninsula. 

The ministry gave no reason for the tightening security in the body of water, which connects the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.

Passage through the strait is not allowed in an area marked as "temporarily dangerous" for ships, except for vessels traveling during the daytime in officially recommended routes.

Russian Navy and Border Guard watercraft can still move freely, according to the statement. The ministry also said that airspace over the area was closed.

The Crimea Bridge, which spans the waterway, was damaged last month in what Russia said was a Ukrainian drone attack.  

Operations were suspended at the Danube port of Izmail after Russian drone strikes damaged some of its structures, Reuters news agency reported.

The port, in Ukraine's Odesa region near the border with NATO member Romania, served as the main alternative route for shipping grain supplies from Ukrainian ports to the rest of the world after the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.

Ukrainian deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote the strikes "attacked warehouses and grain elevators — almost 40 thousand tons of grain were damaged, which was expected by the countries of Africa, China and Israel."

The Ukraine grain deal allowed Kyiv to safely ship agricultural products to the rest of the world, especially developing countries in Africa.

But Russia exited the deal in July. The Kremlin said Wednesday it was willing to return to the agreement if its interests are upheld. These interests include lifting barriers on payments and logistics for shipments.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Moscow was ready to return to Black Sea grain deal once its own conditions were met.

Turkey, which controls shipping access to the Black Sea via the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, had brokered the grain deal between Russia and Ukraine along with the UN. 

Moscow refused to extend the deal last month after it said Western restrictions on payments and logistics hindered shipments of Russian grain and fertilizers that were to make it to world markets as part of the deal.

Russian grain and fertilizers have not been sanctioned by the West. The grain deal allowed for the safe passage of grain shipments from Ukraine to other countries. It also contributed to reducing global food prices, which rose again after its suspension.

The Kremlin said in its readout of the phone call between the two leaders that "it was noted that in the conditions of a complete lack of progress in the implementation of the Russia part of the 'grain deal,' its further extension has lost all meaning."

Russia said it would return to the deal "as soon as the West actually fulfills its obligations to Russia" as part of the deal.

Erdogan's office said the Turkish president emphasized the importance of avoiding steps that could jeopardize the renewal of the Black Sea grain deal, which he described as a "bridge of peace."

The Turkish readout of the call also said the two leaders agreed to a visit by Putin to Turkey. 

Russia began naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said Wednesday. 

The exercises, dubbed Ocean Sheild-2023, involve 30 warships, 20 support vessels and some 6,000 military personnel, according to a statement by the ministry.

The Russian Navy will operate together to "protect sea lanes, transport troops and military cargo, and defend the coastline," the statement said.

Moscow regularly holds naval drills in the Baltic Sea in response to NATO exercises.

The Russian Baltic Sea Fleet is based in the heavily militarized Kaliningrad enclave on the southern coast of the Baltic sea.

The Polish Defense Ministry has accused Belarus of deliberately violating Polish airspace. 

"This is absolutely dangerous. If such situations occur and escalate, our response will be commensurate with the potential danger," Poland's PAP news agency quoted Deputy Defense Minister Wojciech Skurkiewicz as saying.

The Polish Defense Ministry said that Belarusian attack helicopters had flown through Polish airspace near Bialowieza on Tuesday morning. 

Poland, a NATO member, has informed the security alliance about the incident and has decided to move more military units to the border with Belarus in the east. 

Additional helicopters are also to be stationed there, Skurkiewicz said.

The alleged incursion comes as Poland is concerned about the activities of Russia's Wagner mercenary group in Belarus. 

"We have said that we expect provocations, and this was a short-term provocation," said Polish Deputy Interior Minister Maciej Wasik.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry has rejected the allegations, state news agency Belta reported.

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis said Russia's repeated attacks on ports on the Danube river was "unacceptable."

The ports lie on Ukraine's border with Romania and have become crucial for grain supplies following Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal.

"Russia's continued attacks against the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure on [the] Danube, in the proximity of Romania, are unacceptable," Iohannis wrote.

 

Turkmenistan's flagship airline said on Wednesday it would fly to the Russian city of Kazan rather than Moscow, citing safety concerns after Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian capital.

"Due to the situation in the Moscow air zone, and based on a risk assessment in order to ensure flight safety, all Turkmenistan Airlines flights on the Ashgabat-Moscow-Ashgabat
route will be suspended," the airline said in a statement.

Kazan is more than 700 kilometers (440 miles) east of Moscow.

Russia said it had downed several Ukrainian zones near and above Moscow in the past few days, with one building housing three ministries struck on Tuesday for a second time in two days.

Ukraine has not claimed direct responsibility for the attacks despite saying that they are a just retribution for Russia's unprovoked invasion.

One of Moscow's airports, Vnukovo, briefly closed because of the drone attacks but has now resumed full operations.

Russian drones have reportedly caused serious damage at the Ukrainian port of Izmail as Moscow steps up its attacks on its neighbor's agricultural and port infrastructure following its withdrawal from a deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain.

"Another elevator in the port of Izmail, Odesa region, was damaged by Russians. Ukrainian grain has the potential to feed millions of people worldwide," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry wrote on the messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Izmail, located on the River Danube directly on the border to NATO member Romania, is a key port for grain export from Ukraine that allows the produce to be transported by barge to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanta for shipment onward.

Several grain warehouses at the port were destroyed by a previous Russian attack in late July.

Russia has "likely started forming up major new formations to add depth to its ground forces," the British Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update.

It said Moscow would probably use any such new formation as a reserve force in Ukraine, having until now "mainly deployed mobilized reservists to back-fill established formations."

However, "without a major new wave of mandatory mobilization, Russia is unlikely to find enough new troops to resource even one new army," the update added. 

Russia recently increased the age range of those eligible for conscription in what some see as possible preparatory move for a major mobilization.

Last year, Russia announced an ambitious plan to boost its professional and conscripted combat personnel by more than 30% to 1.5 million.  

 

Russian drone attacks hit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the southern Black Sea port of Odesa overnight to Wednesday, with no casualties but some infrastructure damage reported, Ukrainian authorities say.

The Kyiv military administration said all the so-called kamikaze drones used in the attack on the capital had been destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses, according to Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

Ukrinform cited the head of the administration, Serhiy Popko, as saying there were no casualties or serious damage from the attack, which he said used Iranian-made Shahed drones from various directions.

 "Groups of drones entered Kyiv simultaneously from several directions. However, all air targets — more than 10 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — were detected and destroyed in time by the forces and means of air defense," Popko said.

In Odesa, Shahed drones launched from the Sea of Azov through the Black Sea were reported to have damaged port infrastructure. 

The regional governor Oleg Kiper said there were no reports of casualties.

 "The enemy's obvious target was the port and industrial infrastructure of the region. Air defense forces worked non-stop for almost 3 hours," the Operational Command South wrote on Telegram.

Russia has been carrying out frequent attacks on Odesa, a major port, since Moscow withdrew from a grain deal last month that allowed Kyiv's exports despite the war. 

tj/wmr (dpa, AFP, Reuters, AP)