Russia attacks Ukrainian Danube ports

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 25 Jul 2023 by Alex Teddy

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On July 24 Russian drones hit the grain storage facilities on the longest river in Europe. The drones used are allegedly Iranian-made Shaheds. 3 out of the 15 drones used were destroyed. Ukraine has weak air defense in this area, which up until now has not been targeted. 4 people were injured in the attack. Since Ukraine will now find it almost impossible to export grain via the Black Sea it had talked about switching to ship more grain out through the Danube, which flows from Germany. Ukraine already started switching to the Danube route in 2022. In 2022, 2 million tonnes of grain were exported via the Danube compared to 60,000 tonnes in 2021. Some grain could be transported to Romania overland and the shipped out from Romania, which also has a Black Sea coast. Ukraine can also export grain by road and rail to Hungary, Slovakia and Poland. However, it does not have enough train and trucks to export all its grain via these routes. It is more expensive to export grain by land than by ship. Farmers in Ukraine's neighbors are worried about being undercut by Ukrainian grain. The grain storage facilities were just 200 meters across the River Danube from Romania, which is a NATO member. If Russia persists in such attacks there is a danger that Russia will accidentally hit Romania. Romania has massed troops on the Ukrainian border. Ironically, Russian attacks on grain facilities may save the Ukrainian military. As Russia is concentrating so much firepower on grain storage this means that the Ukrainian military is being targeted less.  Wheat, corn and sunflower oil are Ukrainian major products. It is the 7th largest exporter of wheat in the world. Major customers are Turkey, S...