The ITF Seafarers Trust, which previously funded the centre, said it had been by a drone attack in the early hours of 2 August with significant damage reported to the building. Fortunately, the no casualties were reported as families housed in the building and staff had taken shelter in the basement.
The centre is used to house families from other parts of Ukraine made homeless in bombings.
Oleg Grigoryuk, Chairman of the Marine Transport Workers’ Trade Union of Ukraine (MTWTU), which runs the centre said “We are in a state of shock. This centre was providing humanitarian support to seafarers and their families displaced by the war. This senseless destruction comes on top of the devastation already inflicted on the maritime cities of Mariupol, Kherson and latterly Odesa. When will it end?”
Since Russia took the decision not to renew the Black Sea grain corridor in mid-July it has launched a series of strikes on Ukraine ports. On 2 August it attacked the Port of Izmail on the Danube which has become the key export route for Ukrainian grain via Romamia now that Black Sea corridor is no longer in operation.
The strikes hit a grain elevator in the Port of Izmail with damage to silos, warehouses and administrative buildings. Some 40,000 tonnes of grain were reported to have been damaged in the attack.
Katie Higginbottom, Head of the ITF Seafarers' Trust, said “We are relieved that on this occasion there was no loss of life, but we are conscious of the relentless psychological stress caused by such vicious acts. We will be offering all possible support to our Ukrainian colleagues and standing by to repair the physical damage to the centre.”
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