Russia-Ukraine war: Mykolaiv port hit by Russian shelling

Ukraine’s emergency services said this week that Russian shelling hit grain silos in the port city of Mykolaiv. This marks the latest attack on Ukrainian grain terminals by Russian shelling in a war that is moving toward its seventh month.

Ukraine’s emergency services said in a post on Facebook Wednesday that Russian shelling hit grain silos in Mykolaiv Tuesday, causing a fire that was still burning the next day. Mykolaiv is Ukraine’s second-biggest port.

“As a result of the shelling in Mykolaiv, grain silos at an infrastructure facility in the Korabelny district caught fire,” said authorities in the Facebook post. “Firefighting continues.”

Authorities also published photos of the affected silos that had holes in their metal roofs. Fire brigades were also shown to be pouring water on the damaged facilities. Authorities also said a 200 square-meter area was also affected by the shelling.

Several other grain terminals in Mykolaiv have already been affected by Russian shelling as Moscow continues to wage war on Ukraine for the seventh month this year. Ukrainian forces have launched a counter-offensive to retake its southeastern territory of Kherson to drive Russian forces back to Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

Ukraine’s grain exports also dropped after Russia invaded in February, blockading its Black Sea ports which led to high food prices and raised fears of food shortages in Africa and the Middle East. In July, the Black Sea ports were reopened following a deal between Russia and Ukraine and overseen by Turkey and the United Nations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Wednesday urged the European Union to ban all Russian state television channels and “propagandists,” referring to employees of Russian state media. Zelenskyy made the remarks in a video address to the Forum 2000 event in Prague.

“Not a single Russian propaganda-monger should stay on the territory of the EU. Not a single Russian state TV channel should be allowed to keep working on the territory of the EU,” said Zelenskyy in translated remarks.

The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Rafael Grossi, said Wednesday that the watchdog’s visit to the nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia was a “technical mission” that aims to prevent a nuclear accident from happening. This comes as both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling the area near the facility.