ODESA, UKRAINE – An overnight Russian drone attack at Ukraine’s Port of Odesa damaged several buildings, including a grain terminal, according to Ukrainska Pravda, citing information from the Odesa Oblast Military Administration. 

The military administration told the newspaper that Ukraine air defense forces destroyed 22 Russian drones, although several were able to elude the defense system.

It said drone fragments set two terminals near the port on fire, one of which was a grain terminal. The fires were put out quickly, no infrastructure facilities sustained critical damage, and there were no civilian casualties, according to the report.

The attack comes a week before the Black Sea Grain Initiative between the two countries is due to expire. Negotiations, which are being led by the Turkish government and the United Nations, are ongoing but Russia has threatened not to extend the agreement unless a series of demands, including the removal of obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports, are met.

Russia blockaded grain shipments from Ukraine’s ports for the first five months of the ongoing conflict, which began in February 2022, but signed a deal in July 2022 brokered by the United Nations and Turkey allowing the shipments to resume. The deal has been extended several times since then, but the Ukraine government has speculated that Russia won’t extended the deal when it expires on July 18.

More than 32 milllion tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs has been shipped from Ukrainian ports since the blockade was lifted a year ago.