September 2023 was marked by new heavy attacks on Odesa and Odesa Oblast, with people killed and injured. Attacks on Ukraine’s Danube ports continued. Drones and debris increasingly crossed into neighbouring Romania, a NATO country that initially overlooked and denied these facts. By the end of the month, it had moved its air-defence systems to the border.
We are collecting facts about the Russian Federation’s crimes against nature in Odesa and Odesa Oblast during the war: environmental pollution resulting from explosions and damage to infrastructure, contamination of air, water and soil with toxic substances, destruction of ecosystems in protected natural areas and conservation areas of international importance, and more. We will update the information daily, so please send any facts you know to: zeleniy.list1@gmal.com
03.09.2023
Overnight, Russian occupiers attacked civilian infrastructure in Odesa Oblast with Shahed drones. The region was under attack for 3.5 hours, reported Oleh Kiper, head of the Regional Military Administration.
The invaders’ main targets were once again ports: they attacked the port of Reni. Port infrastructure was hit. Two civilian port workers were injured and hospitalised.
Two tractors caught fire in two metal hangar-type warehouses. The old grain elevator building, some silos and grain storage warehouses were also damaged. A new, almost completed grain warehouse was destroyed as well.
Shahed debris fell on the grounds of a private home and on port infrastructure facilities. A fire broke out at one of them.
04.09.2023
According to Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper, Russian invaders attacked Odesa Oblast with Shahed-136 UAVs for 3.5 hours overnight. Our air-defence forces shot down 17 drones.
Warehouses and production buildings, agricultural machinery and industrial enterprises’ equipment were damaged in several settlements in Izmail district. Debris from downed drones also caused several fires at civilian facilities. No one was killed or injured in the overnight raid.
Strikes on port infrastructure in Reni were recorded. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, during the massive attack near the port of Izmail, Russian Shaheds fell and detonated on Romanian territory.
06.09.2023
Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration, reported that on the night of 5–6 September, the Russians attacked Izmail district with attack drones for almost three hours.
An agricultural enterprise employee who suffered serious injuries died. He died in hospital.
Destruction and fires were recorded in several settlements. Port and agricultural infrastructure facilities were damaged: grain elevators, administrative buildings and agricultural enterprises.
The Energy Ministry’s press service also reported that the overnight kamikaze-drone attack damaged power lines, leaving some customers in the town of Kiliia without electricity.
07.09.2023
On the night of 6–7 September, the Russian army struck Izmail district with drones, injuring two people. The enemy attacked port and civilian infrastructure. This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
08.09.2023
“The enemy attacked Odesa Oblast with attack drones for 4.5 hours overnight. Once again, they targeted civilian infrastructure in the Danube region,” the Southern Defence Forces of Ukraine reported.
Russian terrorists launched 20 drones; Ukrainian air defences destroyed 16 Shaheds. This was reported by the Ukrainian Air Force.
“In total, 7 civilians were injured in Russian attack-drone raids on Izmail district: six truck drivers and one local resident. Six people in Reni and one in Izmail,” wrote Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration.
According to him, two men from Reni were in serious condition in an intensive care ward. Four others were in moderately serious condition. The injured person from Izmail was treated in hospital and discharged home.
Port and civilian infrastructure facilities and a truck parking area were also damaged.
Since Russia withdrew from the grain deal, the occupiers have attacked Ukraine’s ports 118 times. Around a third of the infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed
This was reported by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development.
17.09.2023
During the night and morning, 5 cruise missiles were destroyed in the sky over Odesa Oblast. Odesa Regional Military Administration spokesperson Serhii Bratchuk reported that the enemy attacked the region with Kh-101 and Kh-505 cruise missiles. The Russians also launched kamikaze drones at Ukraine. The enemy targeted agricultural infrastructure.
A strike damaged agricultural land and a grain storage facility in Berezivka district, Odesa Oblast. There were no fatalities.
21.09.2023
Russian occupiers launched a missile strike on Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district, hitting recreational infrastructure, where a fire broke out. This was reported by Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa Regional Military Administration. He stressed that no civilians were injured.
23.09.2023
Nataliia Humeniuk, head of the Southern Defence Forces’ press centre, said during the television news marathon that the Russian army used supersonic Oniks missiles in the attack on the region, launched from a Bastion coastal missile system in temporarily occupied Crimea.
According to Humeniuk, since the strike hit an open area, the Russian attack caused no critical destruction or injuries.
The local public channel “Novosti Odessa | Odesa” reported explosions near the settlement of Zatoka in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi district.
25.09.2023
On the night of 24–25 September, Russian occupiers struck Ukraine with Kalibr cruise missiles, P-800 Oniks anti-ship missiles and Shahed-type attack UAVs.
19 “mopeds”, 2 Oniks missiles and 12 Kalibrs: that was the arsenal with which the army of orcs attacked Odesa Oblast
Air defences destroyed all the drones and 11 Kalibrs. Unfortunately, there were also hits.
Port infrastructure came under attack. Odesa’s sea passenger terminal sustained significant damage, and a fire broke out in the nearby Odesa Hotel. It was quickly extinguished. The Odesa Hotel was built at the sea terminal in 2001. It had not operated since 2011.
Destruction was also recorded at a warehouse and a private home in Odesa district.
One civilian was injured by the blast wave in Odesa. The woman suffered fragment injuries and is now receiving all necessary assistance at a local hospital.
As a result of the enemy attack in Odesa, damage was sustained by 9 cultural heritage sites, including the Vorontsov Palace and the Londonskaya Hotel.
26.09.2023
Russian terrorists attacked Odesa Oblast with attack drones for two hours. Air-defence forces worked under extreme pressure. Most of the drones were shot down. The Orlivka–Isaccea border crossing building in Odesa Oblast, warehouses and around 30 trucks were damaged; 6 lorries caught fire. Firefighters extinguished the fires.
At the time of the attack, a bus carrying children was at the Orlivka–Isaccea ferry crossing. Yurii Dimchohlo, founder of the Orlivka ferry complex, told Radio Liberty about this.
According to him, when the air attack began, the bus carrying children was waiting to leave at the checkpoint, but it was quickly moved out.
The checkpoint’s warehouses were severely damaged. Many civilian trucks on international routes were affected — around 30. Six of them burned out completely.
“The main strikes hit customs areas and holding areas for international vehicles awaiting customs control, particularly on entry into Ukraine,” Dimchohlo said.
He noted that the checkpoint’s administrative building survived, but the blast wave shattered its windows.
Dimchohlo also stressed that the crossing is an entirely civilian facility where there were no military personnel apart from border guards. It is also the only crossing into an EU country in southern Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported that operations at the Orlivka–Isaccea ferry checkpoint between Ukraine and Romania in Odesa Oblast had been temporarily suspended.
In the evening, the State Customs Service’s press service reported that the checkpoint had resumed operations after stabilisation measures were carried out.
Two men, both truck drivers, were injured. One received medical assistance at the scene; the other was hospitalised with a serious arm injury.
29.09.2023
Late in the evening, another group of Shaheds was reported in Odesa Oblast, coming from the Black Sea towards Kobleve and Ochakiv. Fortunately, there were no strikes in the region. However, Romania was investigating a possible violation of its airspace during Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s Danube ports.
The country’s Defence Ministry noted that, during another Russian attack on Ukrainian ports on the Danube, an air-raid alert was issued for residents of Tulcea and Galați counties, which lie near the Ukrainian cities of Izmail and Reni. “The Romanian army’s radar surveillance systems detected a possible unauthorised entry into the country’s airspace; the signal was recorded on a path towards the city of Galați,” the statement said.
Residents of the area said they saw something appearing to fall from the sky and then heard fighter jets at low altitude.
The services conducting searches in the area have found nothing so far.
Incidents involving Russian drone fragments falling in Romania in September 2023
On the night of 3–4 September, Russia launched a massive attack on southern Ukraine using Iranian kamikaze drones. According to border guards, some of the drones fell and exploded on the territory of Romania, a NATO member country. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said there was photographic evidence of drones falling in Romania. At least two Russian drones fell and detonated on Romanian territory near the village of Plauru. Romania’s Defence Ministry denied this.
Romania’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, stated that the drone attacks carried out by the Russian Federation had not posed a direct military threat to its national territory or territorial waters. On 5 September, Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis stated that neither Russian drones nor any parts had fallen on the country’s territory.
OSINT analysts, however, established that a Russian drone had fallen on Romanian territory near a border village.
As early as 6 September, Romanian Defence Minister Angel Tîlvăr confirmed that a ministry team had found probable fragments of a Russian drone on the country’s territory. Romania informed NATO about the fragments found on its territory that appeared to be from a Russian army drone. The Alliance expressed support and said it was monitoring developments.
On 12 September, it became known that Romania’s Defence Ministry had begun building shelters for residents in Plauru, near the Ukrainian city of Izmail. Meanwhile, the country’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said there was no cause for concern and called for the public to be reassured.
Romania’s Foreign Ministry subsequently expressed a “strong protest” to Russia over drone debris falling on Romanian territory; it also summoned the Russian ambassador and held consultations with NATO.
Amid Russian attacks, Romania is moving air-defence systems to the border with Ukraine. Around 100 US troops and four F-16 Fighting Falcon jets have also arrived at Borcea military airbase, approximately 150 km south of Ukraine’s Izmail.
Romania’s Deputy Chief of Defence Staff Gheorghiță Vlad stated that the country’s army was ready to shoot down Russian drones if necessary.