KYIV, UKRAINE — Russia has continued its attack on Ukraine’s grain infrastructure, destroying a grain warehouse on the Danube River in a drone attack on July 24, Reuters reported.

Since leaving the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17, Russia has targeted ports in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Chornomorsk, damaging grain terminals, port infrastructure and grain.

Exports from three inland ports along the Danube River have grown in importance after the end of the grain initiative. In the past year, Ukraine has increased grain shipments on this route from a few hundred thousand tonnes to 2 million annually, according to the Ukrainian Grain Association, which noted that there is potential to double that figure.

Reni-Odesa, a news website, cited a local official as saying three grain warehouses had been destroyed in the Danube port city of Reni during a drone attack, Reuters said.

Global traders said any interruptions of inland traffic could hit international grain supplies. Another said without the Black Sea corridor and the attacks on alternative routes it “will be hard to take Ukrainian grains out of the country.”

The grain initiative was brokered in July 2022 by Turkey and the United Nations, after Russia’s invasion in February 2022 had stopped exports, causing price inflation and food insecurity. Russia in recent weeks had threatened to not extend the deal unless a series of demands, including the removal of obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports, were met.