Russian forces have struck port infrastructure in Izmail, southern Ukraine, causing damage and sparking a fire, Ukrainian authorities said on Thursday.
The Izmail Regional State Administration said emergency crews were deployed to the scene to put out the blaze. The port, located near the Romanian border, is Ukraine’s largest Danube port and handles grain and other commodities.
The attack came a day after Ukraine struck Russia’s Novorossiysk port, where Ukrainian authorities said three people were killed and grain facilities were damaged.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to the United States for additional Patriot interceptor missiles, warning that Ukraine is facing a severe shortage as Russian ballistic missile attacks intensify.
Zelenskyy told CNN that Ukraine needs about 5 percent of the Patriot interceptors held by the United States to protect its population through the coming winter. He said that receiving 10 percent could enable Ukraine to destroy all of Russia’s ballistic missiles targeting the country.
“Russia has two times more ballistic missiles per month than they had before,” Zelenskyy said, adding that Ukraine currently has only a fraction of the interceptors it needs.
Ukraine has reported an acute shortage of Patriot interceptors since the United States and Israel went to war with Iran in February, with supplies of the advanced air-defence systems being diverted.
Ballistic missiles are particularly difficult to intercept because they travel at very high speeds and follow steep trajectories.
Ukraine’s Air Force also announced that it would stop publishing detailed statistics on Russian ballistic missile attacks, including the number of missiles launched and intercepted. Officials said general information and real-time warnings would continue.
Last month, Russia launched more than 450 missiles at Ukraine, including nearly 200 ballistic missiles, according to Ukrainian officials.
Zelenskyy said he remained hopeful that Washington would respond positively to his requests for additional interceptors, as Ukraine seeks to strengthen its air defences ahead of the winter months.
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