Russia strikes Ukraine-Romania border crossing for 2nd time in week
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Russia struck the Orlivka border crossing connecting Ukraine with Romania overnight on Sept. 6, forcing it to pause operations, according to authorities in the Ukrainian port city of Izmail.
The closing of the border crossing came just days after it reopened following an earlier Russian drone attack.
The Orlivka crossing was hit with Russian Shahed-type drones, the Izmail District Administration reported. The attack caused a suspension in processing of people and vehicle crossings, according to local authorities.
No casualties resulted from the attack, according to Andrii Demchenko, spokesperson for Ukraine's State Border Guard Service. By the morning of Sept. 6, operations at the crossing had resumed, he said.
The crossing had previously been targeted on Sept. 1, when Russian Shahed-type drones struck a building and other infrastructure at the facility, starting fires and temporarily halting operations. Operations had resumed two days later, on Sept. 3, after repairs to the crossing’s infrastructure and testing of ferry service, according to Romanian customs authorities.
The quick restoration of services at the crossing after the Sept. 6 strike marks a much quicker recovery process than following the earlier attack, Demchenko said.
Russia is actively targeting border infrastructure in both Romania and Moldova, Demchenko told the television news program We Are Ukraine.
The Orlivka–Isaccea crossing links Ukraine's Odesa Oblast with NATO and EU member Romania across the Danube River. Border and logistics infrastructure in the region has become an important alternative to Black Sea shipping routes that have become more dangerous under increasing Russian bombardment.
The Danube has been Ukraine’s only viable grain export route since Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in 2023. Russia has repeatedly targeted ports and logistics infrastructure in this region, with the attacks frequently occurring within kilometers — and in some cases hundreds of meters — of Romanian territory.
