By Olena Harmash
KYIV (Reuters) – A Russian drone attack damaged port infrastructure and commercial and residential buildings early on Wednesday, wounding three people in the southern Ukrainian city of Izmail on the River Danube, local officials said.
The attack damaged several buildings in the port, caused a fire and also damaged three trucks, Oleh Kiper, governor of the Odesa region, said in a statement.
A five-storey residential building was damaged during the attacks that smashed its windows and stairwells, and ruined a part of its facade, officials said.
Ukrainian air defences shot down 17 of 23 drones that were launched from Russian territory and the occupied Crimean peninsular, which Moscow seized and annexed in 2014, the air force said.
Most of the drones were downed over the southern Odesa region, it said.
“The enemy attacked the southern regions with attack drones. Port infrastructure has been their target again,” the southern military command said on the Telegram messaging app.
Izmail and other ports of the Danube river are important routes for Ukraine to import fuel.
Demand for fuel is rising in Ukraine as businesses and residents increasingly depend on generators to produce electricity during extended blackouts.
Since March, Russia has intensified its missile and drone attacks on the Ukrainian power sector and other energy infrastructure, knocking out about half of available generation capacity and resulting in long blackouts across the country.
(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Tom Balmforth and Sharon Singleton)
