White House says it does not back Ukraine attacks inside Russia

WASHINGTON - The White House said it does not condone Ukraine launching attacks inside Russia after

two drones from Ukraine damaged buildings in Moscow earlier on Monday.

“As a general matter we do not support attacks inside of Russia,” White House spokesman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in a press briefing.

Russia vowed to take harsh retaliatory measures against Ukraine, calling the two drone strikes, including one close to the Defence Ministry’s headquarters, a brazen act of terror.

But Ms Jean-Pierre noted: “This is a war that Russia started. This is their war. And they can end it at any time by withdrawing forces from Ukraine instead of launching brutal attacks on civilians.”

Nobody was hurt in the attack in Moscow – the most high-profile of its kind since two drones reached the Kremlin in May.

One drone struck close to Russia’s defence headquarters in a symbolic blow that underscored the reach of such drones, and a senior Ukrainian official said there would be more attacks.

Meanwhile, Kyiv on Monday said a Russian drone attack destroyed Ukrainian grain warehouses on the Danube River and wounded seven people. The move led to Romanian President Klaus Iohannis warning that security in the Black Sea was at risk.

Amateur footage posted on social media by a Romanian showed an explosion just across the Danube, as drones appeared to hit the Ukrainian port of Reni on the river.

Reni is a Ukrainian port town where the Danube forms a natural frontier with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member Romania, and is also near the Moldovan border.

The Danube delta region, which spans Romania and Ukraine, is being used as an export route for Ukrainian grain.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the blast with Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu on Monday, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists in Washington.

“We will defend every inch of Nato territory. The secretary made that clear in his call with the Romanian Foreign Minister today,” Mr Miller said.

President Iohannis wrote on Twitter on Monday: “I strongly condemn the recent Russian attacks against the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure on (the) Danube, very close to Romania.

“This recent escalation poses serious risks to the security in the Black Sea. It also affects further Ukrainian grain transit, thus global food security.”

Russia last week pulled out of a key deal which had allowed the safe export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.

Since then, Kyiv has accused Russia of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to exports.

“We will continue to consult with our partners in the region on how we might find alternative ways to get the grain out of Ukraine,” Mr Miller said, warning that there was “no perfect solution” that could replace the deal.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a large amount of Ukrainian grain exports has been shipped through Romania’s Black Sea port of Constanta.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Monday called on Russia to stop air strikes on Ukrainian port infrastructure.

“Romania will continue to support Ukraine in identifying practical solutions for further grain exports to global markets,” he added in a press release.

Agritel analyst Arthur Portier told AFP that the attacks have sent wheat prices soaring to their highest level in four months.

“After the closure of the maritime corridor, investors are reacting to the intensification of bombardments on alternative grain export routes”, he said.

The Kremlin said it would press on with what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Kyiv and much of the West say it is a brutal war of conquest.

A swarm of 17 drones also launched attacks overnight on Crimea,

which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

They struck an ammunition warehouse and damaged a residential building, the Russian-installed head of Crimea said. REUTERS, AFP