The Russian attack on the port of Odessa casts doubt on the grain export agreement

ODESA, Ukraine – A series of explosions rocked the southern Ukrainian city of Odessa on Saturday, hitting one of the country’s most important ports less than 24 hours after Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement to ensure the transit of millions of tons of grain through the Black Sea routes.

The attacks raised concerns about Russia’s commitment to the deal, which was brokered by the United Nations and Turkeyeven before it could be put into practice.

The agreement is considered key to support world supplies after a sharp drop in Ukraine’s grain exports sparked fears over food shortages in poorer nations.

The series of explosions was also a grim reminder of Russia’s violent foothold in the five-month war:

signs from Moscow that it could rain destruction everywhere in Ukraine at random, regardless of the military situation at the front or diplomatic developments elsewhere.

While denouncing the attack and calling Russia untrustworthy, Ukrainian officials said they were continuing to prepare. like it the agreement on cereals will enter into force.

Ukraine’s southern military command said Saturday that Russian forces have fired four Kalibr cruise missiles over Odessa.

“Two rockets were shot down by the air defense forces, two hit port infrastructure,” he wrote in a statement posted on his Facebook page.

It was not clear what the target of the attacks was and whether any grain infrastructure had been hit.

If confirmed, the use of the Kalibr cruise missile, a new piece of artillery launched by the Russians in the last decade, is in itself remarkable:

Western intelligence officials have claimed in recent weeks that Russian stocks of advanced weapons such as the Kalibr they were decreasing.

Ukraine’s condemnation of Saturday’s missile attack was swift.

Oleg Nikolenko, spokesman for the country’s foreign ministry, said on Facebook that with the attacks, the president of RussiaVladimir Putin had “spat in the face” of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, and the president Recep Tayyip Erdogan from Turkey after the two “have spent enormous sums of money and efforts to reach this agreement”.

Ukrainian President Volomydyr Zelensky, informing a delegation from the US House of Representatives, said the attack “proves only one thing:

no matter what Russia says and promises, will find a way not to implement it ”.

Guterres’ deputy spokesman denounced the attacks, saying in a statement that full implementation of the agreement was “imperative”.

And the Secretary of State, Anthony Blinkenhe said in a statement that the attack cast “serious doubts on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to yesterday’s agreement” and demonstrated Moscow’s “contempt for the safety of millions of civilians”.

There were no immediate comments from the Kremlin.

The attack occurred a day before the Russian foreign minister launched a tour Africa, where he should try to blame the food shortage in the West.

The blast wave from missiles hitting the harbor could be felt from miles away, although it was not clear exactly where they hit.

The huge port stretches for miles along the Odessa coast with towering silver grain silos clustered at various points.

The attack, like many long-range attacks that have targeted Ukrainian infrastructure, will do little to stop overall port operations, but could attract the resources needed to repair facilitiesput out fires and look for unexploded ordnance.

“If you attack a port, you attack everything,” said Mykola Solskyi, the country’s agriculture minister.

“You use a lot of the same infrastructure for oil, for grain. It affects everything no matter what you hit. “

According to a senior UN official, Russia may not have technically violated the wheat deal as it has not pledged to avoid attacking parts of Ukrainian ports not used directly for grain exports.

If there were military targets nearby, Russia may have tried to exploit a lagoon, a practice that has become increasingly common over the course of the war.

Solskyi said the strikes would still affect Ukraine’s efforts to export grain, adding that some of the destroyed infrastructure was “important for processing all imports.”

But, he said, Ukraine would proceed with preparations to eventually ship the grain.

“We understand that we still have a war with Russia,” he said.

“Our agreement was with the United Nations and Turkey, not with Russia.”

It is not the first time that Ukraine has accused Russia of not respecting its commitments.

Ukraine has repeatedly stated that Russia violates the negotiations underway on agreed humanitarian evacuation routes for civilians in besieged cities, such as Mariupol.

In some cases, Russian forces have allowed such corridors but have kidnapped or imprisoned men of military age who tried to escape.

The Odessa attack is linked to a larger increase in attacks in southern Ukraine in recent weeks as Russian forces replenish forces in the east.

Russian and Ukrainian forces launched long-range weapon attacks in the south overnight and Saturday, apparently targeting supply lines and anti-aircraft weapons behind front lines on both sides.

Fighting in the east continues unabated and on Friday the State Department confirmed the deaths of two Americans there, but did not identify them out of respect for their families.

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, said the Russian strikes were provokedn 10 explosions in Odessa and that the attacks on the port caused a fire.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, The EU foreign policy chief condemned Saturday’s attacks, stating on Twitter that “the achievement of a crucial grain export goal the day after the signing of the Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible and once again proves the total. contempt for Russia by international law and commitments “.

In the absence of a public statement on the attack on the Odessa port, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters on Saturday that Russia had told Turkey it had no nothing to see with the attacks in Odessa.

However, he said: “The fact that such an incident happened immediately after the wheat deal we made yesterday worries us a lot.”

Since the war began on February 24, the port of Odessa has been blocked over time.

Bales of steel are stacked on loading docks ready for shipment, and multicolored cranes float like huge sleeping birds.

In Odessa, as well as in the other five main ports in the region, 68 ships remained stranded, along with some of their crews, said Dmytro Barinov, deputy head of the Ukrainian Maritime Port Authority.

The port authority has provided food to the sailors and allowed them access to the air-raid shelters when the air-raid sirens sound, he said.

In return, the crews continue to serve the ships.

“You can’t leave a ship alone,” Barinov said.

“It must be maintained”.

Founded by Catherine the Great at the height of the Russian Empire, Odessa has long been a crucial economic engine for Ukraine.

Before the war, the city was Ukraine’s most important outlet for the global economy, and the reopening of its port infrastructure is critical to the future feasibility financial country.

So far, the city has been spared the worst of the fighting.

Initially, it appeared that the Russian forces exiting the Crimean Peninsula in the early days of the war were intent on taking over Odessa, which Putin says is a crucial part of Russia’s historical territory.

But their advance was slowed by the Ukrainian resistance.

Unable to reach the city, Russian forces resorted to attacking it from afar.

Erika Solomon reported from Berlin. Thomas Gibbons-Neff contributed reportage from Hope, Maine and Matina Stevis-Gridneff contributed reportage from Brussels.

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