Ukraine claims it downed 22 Shahed drones as Russia hits port on Romania border; 2 injured

Russia on Sunday (September 3) launched a 3.5-hour-long drone attack in Ukraine's Odesa, hitting Danube River port infrastructure and injuring at least two people. Meanwhile, Russia said it hit targets on theDanube port of Reni, on the border with NATO member Romania.

Russia hits Ukraine's Danube port on Romanian border

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According to a report by the news agency Reuters, the Ukrainian Air Force said that its air defence systems shot down 22 of the 25 Iranian-made Shahed drones that Russia launched on the Odesa region in the early hours of Sunday.

"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 and posted a photograph of a firefighter directing water at the burning ruins of concrete structures.

In a statement, the Russian army said it "carried out a group drone strike on fuel storage facilities used to supply military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the port of Reni, in the Odesa region." It added, "All designated targets were hit."

Romania 'strongly condemns' attack onDanube

After the attack, Romaniandefence ministry released a statement andstrongly condemned repeated Russian attacks on Ukraine's Danube port and called it"unjustified".

The"reiterates in the strongest terms that these attacks against civilian targets and infrastructure in Ukraine are unjustified and in deep contradiction with the rules of international humanitarian law".

It added, "At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation generate any direct military threat to the national territory or territorial waters of Romania."

Two killed in biggest Russian strike in Kyiv in months

Sunday's drone attack came three days after Russia launched its biggest airstrike in Kyiv in months, killing two people. Reuters reported three people were wounded in the strike and combat drones attacked infrastructure in the central region of Zhytomyr.

"The blast wave broke all the windows, the entry doors are broken too. We were terribly scared," said Liudmyla Savchuk, a 57-year-old teacher whose apartment in northwestern Kyiv was damaged. "Then there was another explosion in a couple of seconds, 20 or 30 seconds. We're cleaning everything now," Savchuk added.

Russia has conducted regular, but smaller, air strikes on Kyiv this summer, and hit the Ukrainian capital with large-scale aerial attacks in May.

"Kyiv has not experienced such a powerful attack since spring. The enemy launched a massive, combined attack using drones and missiles," Serhiy Popko, the head of the city's military administration said on Telegram.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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