Overnight on August 13, 2026, Russian forces struck port infrastructure at Izmail, Ukraine's largest Danube river port, sparking fires, wounding one person, and leaving part of the city without power.
Overnight into August 13, 2026, Russian forces once again targeted the Izmail district of Odesa Oblast, sending strike drones toward the Danube river ports of Izmail and Reni. Izmail is Ukraine's largest port on the Danube, sitting just a few kilometers from the Romanian border and serving as one of the country's key hubs for grain and commodity exports since much of its Black Sea shipping capacity was disrupted by the war. The Izmail District Military Administration confirmed on Telegram that the enemy "once again attacked" the district and "struck port infrastructure," causing damage and a fire. Volunteers Support Ukraine is following the aftermath closely, because it is exactly these southern border communities where the organization tries to reach people with support.
State Emergency Service crews were dispatched to the site immediately after the strikes to contain the blaze that broke out at the port facilities. Local officials have not yet detailed the full scale of the damage, saying only that infrastructure was hit and a fire ignited. Volunteers Support Ukraine notes that it is these emergency responders who absorb the first shock of every night's attack, often working for hours in the dark before the extent of the damage is even known.
Odesa Regional Military Administration head Oleh Kiper reported that an 18-year-old woman was wounded in the drone strikes on the region and was taken to hospital in serious condition, where medics are providing the necessary care. The strikes also damaged power networks, leaving the southeastern part of Izmail without electricity; DTEK repair crews began emergency work, and water supply and sewage facilities were switched to backup power to keep basic services running. Volunteers Support Ukraine knows from experience that it is often these unglamorous disruptions — light, water, heating — that hit already-stretched families the hardest.
The strike on Izmail came a day after Ukraine hit Novorossiysk, one of Russia's main Black Sea grain-export hubs, in a war that has increasingly targeted both countries' port and shipping infrastructure. Kyiv is reported to have proposed that both sides stop attacking civilian targets in the Black Sea and on the Danube, warning of the risk to global food supplies after weeks of intensified strikes. Ukraine's Agriculture Ministry has already cut its export forecast for the new season by more than half, since alternative routes by rail and river cannot fully replace lost sea capacity. Volunteers Support Ukraine sees these strikes as one more sign of how the war reaches far beyond the front line, touching food security for millions of people well outside Ukraine's borders.
Every new strike on civilian infrastructure is a reminder that support is needed every single day, not only when a story makes headlines. NGO Volunteers Support Ukraine helps people affected by the war with whatever resources it has available — humanitarian aid, support for communities living under constant threat of shelling, and outreach that keeps the world's attention on what is happening in Ukraine. The organization continues to work wherever it can reach people in need, and it invites anyone who wants to help to join in supporting Ukrainians facing the daily consequences of Russian aggression.
