Russia strikes Odesa in drone barrage cutting off ferry to Romania

Russia has struck the Black Sea region of Odesa in a drone barrage that led to the suspension of the ferry service between Romania and Ukraine, officials said on Tuesday.

The blasts reportedly damaged a warehouse, charred dozens of trucks and injured two drivers.

Video shot from the Romanian side of the Danube River showed rapid bursts of Ukrainian anti-aircraft fire streaking through the night sky followed by two orange fireballs exploding near the port area.

Romanian Border Police said ferries were anchored on the Romanian shores of the Danube in Isaccea due to the attacks on Ukraine. Traffic was being redirected through Galati, a Romanian town upstream on the Danube.

Photos on Tuesday showed burned-out frames of trucks at the scene of the blast.

Ukraine's air force said it downed 26 of 38 drones launched by Russia overnight on Monday.

Russian forces targeted the area of Izmail in the Odesa region, in what has become a sustained campaign to target Ukraine's ability to export grain. Attacks on Monday killed two people in a grain warehouse in Odesa and badly damaged an abandoned high-rise hotel, officials said.

After Moscow pulled out of a UN-brokered grain deal this summer, the strikes on Izmail and cities located in the southern part of the Odesa region became routine.

Attacks on the cities on the Danube have been especially damaging because the route has emerged as the most promising for continued Ukrainian exports.

At least nine civilians were killed in Ukraine and 15 people were injured over the past 24 hours, the presidential office said, as Russian strikes hit several cities near the front lines of the war where Ukraine is waging its slow-moving counteroffensive.

Although neither side has released casualty figures, the counteroffensive is believed to have taken a heavy toll on both sides and it has been devastating to the towns and villages where fighting has raged.

New aerial video footage of Klishchiivka, on the outskirts of Bakhmut, shot with a drone for The Associated Press shows how the battle has turned the village in eastern Ukraine into a pile of rubble after months of fierce fighting.

The footage shot two days ago shows the village in ruins with destroyed Russian tanks and military vehicles littering the main road. Barely a building remains intact in the village that was once home to almost 400 people.

Ukraine recaptured the village on September 17 after months of fighting, two days after it won back neighboring Andriivka, the Ukrainian military said.

Both are tiny towns but were considered tactically important for Ukrainian forces as they extend gains around Bakhmut, 6 miles (10 kilometers) to the north.

The commanding heights of the village offer a view into the Russian-occupied town of Bakhmut and open up new opportunities for Ukrainian forces to encircle the town.

It also potentially allows Ukrainians a better view of Russian logistic lines.