Russia's strategic offensive worries NATO

Ria Novosti quoted information from the Express newspaper (UK) saying that Russian drone attacks on strategic targets of Ukraine near the border with Romania - a NATO member country, have caused panic.

According to Express, Ukraine's vital infrastructure at the ports of Reni and Izmail has been attacked. These are two key export ports of Kiev on the Danube River, bordering Romania.

The Danube River has become Ukraine's main grain export route since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July. Ukrainian grain is transported by barge from the ports of Reni and Izmail in Odessa province to the Romanian port of Constanta, then on to other destinations.

Earlier, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko cited a border service report saying that a Russian drone was believed to have crashed and exploded in Romania. In response, Romania’s Defense Ministry said that Russian weapons had never posed a “direct military threat to the country’s territory or territorial waters.”

In recent days, Ukraine has accused Russia of using UAVs to attack grain warehouses in the port of Izmail, destroying goods, as well as a production and transit complex in the Danube region. The Russian Defense Ministry said the locations of the attacks were hideouts of foreign mercenaries and Ukrainian weapons depots.