The governor said the drones attacked over two hours overnight, and that while most were shot down, some got through, damaging a storage building, an elevator and trucks.

Ukraine’s Danube ports have become a key artery for the country’s huge export volumes of grain as Russia blockades the Black Sea since invading its neighbour in February 2022.

Moscow hit Danube port infrastructure with waves of drone attacks in August and September, but the latest overnight attack came after a lull in such strikes.

Ukraine’s air force said 18 Shaheds were launched in total at the southern Odesa region and Khmelnytskyi region, which is in west Ukraine.

Fifteen of the drones were shot down by air defence rocket systems and mobile fire groups, the air force said.