Russia bombs Odessa after termination of wheat supply agreement
Missiles and drones have fallen on the port for two consecutive nights, reviving the threat of a global grain shortage.
( Cordon Press)
After the agreement between Russia and Ukraine to secure the transportation of Ukrainian wheat was terminated, Russian armed forces attacked Odessa and its port throughout Monday and Tuesday night. According to local reports, several salvos of Russian missiles damaged the city's port infrastructure.
Several warehouses were also destroyed after the attacks. Sixteen Kaliber cruise missiles, eight Kh-22 missiles, six Onyx missiles and one Kh-59 missile were used. According to the Liveuamap.com monitoring portal, the projectiles were launched from the Crimean peninsula. According to the same sources, Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drones were also used. The Ukrainian armed forces claim that their air defenses intercepted 13 of the Russian shells.
Russia again instrumentalizes world hunger
Hours before this attack, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Ukraine against continuing to export wheat without an agreement between the two countries to utilize safe corridors. Until Tuesday, both nations were committed to allow the passage of cargo ships with grain leaving Odessa to supply Africa, Asia and Europe. The agreement, backed by the United Nations and Turkey, helped stem the rise in commodity prices around the world.
Several world leaders accused Putin of again instrumentalizing the shortage to extract something out of negotiations with Kiev. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recalled that thousands of people will go hungry again because of the end of the agreement. "Hundreds of millions facing hunger & consumers confronting a global cost-of-living crisis will pay the price," he said in a statement.
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed his Turkish counterpart that the end of the agreement meant that the northwest Black Sea, through which the cargo ships transited, would become a "temporarily dangerous zone." According to the Ministry's statement, Lavrov and Turkey are studying alternatives to the Bosporus Strait route to supply grain to poorer nations.
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