Russia targets Danube port after major attack on Moscow

Russia launched an attack overnight targeting Ukraine’s port infrastructure in the southern region of Odesa, authorities said Monday, after one of Ukraine’s largest aerial attacks of the war.

The strikes in the Izmail district resulted in a civilian Togo-flagged vessel being damaged, with four people injured, according to Oleh Kiper, governor of southern Ukraine’s Odesa region.

Izmail, which is situated close to the Romanian border, is home to Ukraine’s largest port on the drought-stricken Danube River and plays a key role in the country’s trade and transport network.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had also targeted military targets in the port, which it described as a “berthing terminal” for military cargo, hangars housing Western military equipment and depots for naval drones, according to Reuters. CNBC could not independently verify the report.

The reports of Russian attacks come after Ukraine hit Moscow with one of its largest drone attacks of the war over the weekend. Russian authorities reported on Sunday that at least six people had been killed overnight as Moscow said it shot down a record of 1,478 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours.

A huge fire engulfed a distribution warehouse belonging to Russia’s Amazon-style retail giant, Wildberries, near Moscow as part of the attack, authorities said.

The facility was disabled as a result of the strike, according to Ukraine’s military, which said seven of Wildberries’ 10 largest logistics hubs have now been taken out of operation.

Ukraine has sought to ramp up attacks on Wildberries, signaling a new phase in the four-and-a-half-year war as Kyiv seeks to inflict fresh pain on the Russian economy.

Wildberries is a major player in Russia’s e-commerce sector, with the retail giant’s marketplace alone accounting for roughly 3% of Russia’s gross domestic product, according to the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, a Kyiv-based think tank.