Ukrainian authorities said Thursday that a Russian air raid targeted the port of Izmail in the Odesa region overnight, causing damage, fires and power outages, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for more US Patriot interceptor missiles to help his country counter Russian ballistic missile attacks.
Damage and fires at Izmail port
The port of Izmail lies near the Romanian border in southern Ukraine. It is the largest Ukrainian grain-shipping port on the Danube River and is also a major hub for exporting grain and commodities.
The port administration said on Telegram that the raids damaged infrastructure, sparked fires and cut electricity to the southeastern part of the city.
The attack came a day after Ukraine shelled the city of Novorossiysk, a major grain-shipping hub in the Russian part of the Black Sea.
Train driver and assistant killed
In a separate attack, Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovsky said in a Facebook post that a Russian drone targeted a passenger train in the Odesa region, killing the driver and his assistant.
Zelenskyy asks for more Patriot missiles
Zelenskyy told CNN on Wednesday that Ukraine needs at least 5% of the United States' current stockpile of Patriot interceptor missiles, as Russian ballistic missile attacks intensify.
Kyiv is seeking more PAC-3 missiles, the latest version of the Patriot missile system capable of intercepting Russian ballistic missiles. Supplies of these missiles to Ukraine have declined as shipments were diverted because of the war with Iran.
