Russian drone attack targets Odesa region
Russia launched a drone attack on southern parts of the Odesa region yesterday, hitting Danube River port infrastructure and injuring at least two people, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine's air defence systems shot down 22 of the 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched on the Odesa region in the early hours, the Air Force said on the Telegram messaging app.
The Danube has become Ukraine's main route for exporting grain since the collapse of a UN-brokered deal in July that had allowed Kyiv to ship its grain via the Black Sea.
"Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope of provoking a food crisis and famine in the world," the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram. He posted a photo of a firefighter directing water at the burning ruins of concrete structures.
Officials did not give details of which port facility was hit. The military said a fire that resulted from the attack at the facility was quickly extinguished.
Some Ukrainian media reported blasts in the Reni port, one of the two major ports on the Danube that Ukraine operates.
There was no immediate comment from Russia. Reni and Izmail, Ukraine's two largest ports on the Danube River, have been repeatedly attacked by Russian drones in recent weeks.
Some 280,000 people have signed up so far this year for professional service with Russia's military, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, said yesterday.
Visiting Russia's Far East, Medvedev said he was meeting local officials to work on efforts to beef up the armed forces.
"According to the Ministry of Defence, since January 1, about 280,000 people have been accepted into the ranks of the Armed Forces on a contract basis," including reservists, state news agency TASS quoted Medvedev as saying.
Last year Russia announced a plan to expand its combat personnel more than 30 percent to 1.5 million, an ambitious task made harder by its heavy but undisclosed casualties in Moscow's war against Ukraine.
Some Russian lawmakers suggested Russia needs a professional army 7-million strong to ensure the country's security - a move that would require a huge budget allowance.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian court ordered tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky to be held in custody for two months on suspicion of fraud and money laundering on Saturday, a striking move against one of the country's most powerful businessmen.
The detention of Kolomoisky, who is under US sanctions and is a one-time supporter of President Volodymyr Zelensky whose election he backed in 2019, comes as Kyiv is trying to signal progress during a wartime crackdown on corruption.
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