Ukraine says Russian missiles hit Odesa port; landmark grain deal at
risk
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[July 23, 2022]
By Natalia Zinets
KYIV (Reuters) -Russian missiles hit the
major port of Odesa in southern Ukraine on Saturday, the Ukrainian
military said, dealing a blow to a deal signed on Friday to unblock
grain exports from Black Sea ports.
The landmark deal signed by Moscow and Kyiv on Friday is seen as crucial
to curbing soaring global food prices, easing a supply crunch by
allowing certain exports to be shipped from Black Sea ports including
Odesa.
U.N. officials had said on Friday they hoped the agreement would be
operational in a few weeks but it was not yet clear if that would still
be possible given Saturday's strikes.
"The enemy attacked the Odesa sea trade port with Kalibr cruise
missiles," Ukraine's Operational Command South wrote on the Telegram
messaging app. Two missiles hit infrastructure at the port, while
another two were shot down by air defence forces, it said.
Ukraine's foreign ministry called on the United Nations and Turkey,
which mediated Friday's deal, to ensure that Russia fulfils its
commitments and allows free passage in the grain corridor.
The U.S. ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, called the strike
"outrageous".
"The Kremlin continues to weaponize food. Russia must be held to
account," Brink wrote on Twitter.\
Russia's defence ministry did not immediately reply to a Reuters request
for comment.
A blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia's Black Sea fleet since Moscow's
Feb. 24 invasion of its neighbour has trapped tens of millions of tonnes
of grain and stranded many ships. This has worsened global supply chain
bottlenecks and, along with Western sanctions on Russia, stoked food and
energy price inflation.
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A combine harvests barley in a field, as Russia's attack on Ukraine
continues, in Odesa Region, Ukraine June 23, 2022. REUTERS/Igor
Tkachenko
Russia and Ukraine are major global wheat suppliers,
and the war sent food prices soaring. A global food crisis has
pushed some 47 million people into "acute hunger," according to the
World Food Programme.
Friday's deal seeks to avert famine in poorer nations by injecting
more wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer and other products into world
markets including for humanitarian needs, partly at lower prices.
U.N. officials said on Friday the deal, expected to be fully
operational in a few weeks, would restore grain shipments from the
three reopened ports to pre-war levels of 5 million tonnes a month.
Under the deal, Ukrainian officials would guide ships through safe
channels across mined waters to three ports, including Odesa, where
they would be loaded with grain.
Moscow has denied responsibility for the crisis, blaming Western
sanctions for slowing its own food and fertiliser exports and
Ukraine for mining the approaches to its Black Sea ports.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday the deal
would make around $10 billion worth of grain available for sale with
roughly 20 million tonnes of last year's harvest to be exported.
(Reporting by Reuters bureausWriting by Jacob
Gronholt-PedersenEditing by Frances Kerry)
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