KYIV, July 23 (Reuters) – Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s southern port of Odesa on Saturday, the Ukrainian military said, threatening a deal signed just a day earlier to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and ease global food shortages caused by the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the strike blatant “barbarism” showing Moscow could not be trusted to implement the deal. However, public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not caused significant damage and a government minister said preparations continued to restart grain exports from Black Sea ports.
The deal signed on Friday by Moscow and Kyiv and mediated by the United Nations and Turkey was hailed as a breakthrough after nearly five months of punishing fighting since Russia invaded its neighbour. It is seen as crucial to curbing soaring global food prices by allowing grain exports to be shipped from Black Sea ports including Odesa.
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The strikes on Odesa drew strong condemnation from the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy. On Friday, U.N. officials said they hoped the agreement would be operational in a few weeks. read more
Turkey’s defence minister said Russian officials told Ankara that Moscow had “nothing to do” with the strikes on Odesa. Neither Russian defence ministry statements nor the military’s evening summary mentioned any missile strike in Odesa. The ministry did not reply to a Reuters request for comment.
Two Russian Kalibr missiles hit the area of a pumping station at the port, while two others were shot down by air defence forces, according to Ukraine’s military. Ukrainian air force spokesperson Yuriy Ignat said the missiles were fired from warships in the Black Sea near Crimea.
Suspilne quoted Ukraine’s southern military command as saying the port’s grain storage area was not hit.
“Unfortunately there are wounded. The port’s infrastructure was damaged,” said Odesa region governor Maksym Marchenko.
But Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook that “we continue technical preparations for the launch of exports of agricultural products from our ports”.
SAFE PASSAGE
The strike appeared to violate the terms of Friday’s deal, which would allow safe passage in and out of Ukrainian ports.
“If anyone in the world could have said before this that some kind of dialogue with Russia, some kind of agreements, would be necessary, look at what is happening,” Zelenskiy said in a late-night video.
He vowed to do everything possible to acquire air defense systems able to shoot down missiles like those that hit Odesa.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that “this attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to yesterday’s deal.”
“Russia bears responsibility for deepening the global food crisis and must stop its aggression,” he added.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “unequivocally condemned” the strikes, a spokesperson said, adding that full implementation of the deal was imperative.
Turkish Defence Minister Hulusai Akar said in a statement: “The Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack … The fact that such an incident took place right after the agreement we made yesterday really worried us.”
Ukraine has mined waters near its ports as part of its war defences, but under the deal pilots will guide ships along safe channels. read more
A Joint Coordination Center…
Read More: Russian missiles hit Ukraine port; Kyiv says it is still preparing grain exports