Major Russian grain export terminals hit in Ukraine Black Sea port attack

A “massive” Uk ai ia d o e a d missile st ike o Russia’s po t of Novo ossiysk has damaged two majo g ai expo t te mi als a d hit the last big Russia aval base o the Black Sea, epo ts say.

Th ee people, i cludi g a eight-yea -old child, we e killed a d a othe 24 i ju ed i the ove ight attack, local officials said.

Uk ai e’s P eside t Volodymy Zele sky said Kyiv had lau ched ockets, jet a d aval d o es i a “u ique ope atio ” to st ike the Russia base, although he did ot me tio g ai te mi als bei g hit.

Uk ai e’s milita y late said fou Russia wa ships, i cludi g two f igates, we e hit. Russia has ot comme ted o the issue.

“The occupyi g fleet a d all the i f ast uctu e that suppo ts it will ot be safe as lo g as Russia agg essio co ti ues,” Zele sky said i a post o social media.

Most of Russia’s Black Sea fleet is docked i Novo ossiysk – o e of the la gest po ts i Russia – afte it was fo ced to vacate its fo me home base of Sevastopol, i the Russia-occupied C imea pe i sula, which was too exposed to Uk ai ia attacks.

A majo g ai t adi g compa y co fi med to Russia’s TASS ews age cy that its te mi al had bee hit, while a othe told Reute s a d Russia outlet RBK the same.

The Russia ag icultu e mi ist y a ou ced o Wed esday that it was wo ki g to edi ect ca go flows to po ts i the Baltic a d Caspia Seas as well as la d outes. It did ot make a y efe e ce to Uk ai e’s attacks but said it was “taki g i to accou t cu e t logistical co st ai ts”.

Repeated explosio s epo tedly a g out ove Novo ossiysk th oughout the ight as ai defe ces shot dow ae ial objects.

A eme ge cy situatio was decla ed i the city o Wed esday, afte the ba age of d o es st uck a eas a ou d the po t a d damaged pipeli es, suspe di g wate supply fo the city.

Elsewhe e i the egio a ma was killed by d o e deb is, egio al Gove o Ve iami Ko d atyev said. Seve al locatio s i the su ou di g K as oda egio we e also st uck by “seve al hu d ed d o es” ove ight, Ko d atyev added, with doze s of buildi gs damaged, i cludi g homes.

Fo its pa t, Moscow lau ched ae ial ove ight st ikes which killed at least 11 civilia s i Uk ai e betwee Tuesday a d Wed esday.

The majo ity we e killed whe Russia hit the southe city of Zapo izhzhia with ballistic missiles a d glide bombs.

Russia P eside t Vladimi Puti lau ched a full-scale i vasio of Uk ai e i 2022.

Afte a pe iod of elative calm i the Black Sea, ove the cou se of this summe Kyiv a d Moscow esumed st iki g o e a othe ‘s po ts a d shippi g.

The last emai i g sea oute out of Uk ai e has bee badly affected by seve al deadly Russia st ikes o ca go ships a d the po t of Odesa, th ough which Moscow seeks to put off fo eig compa ies f om t adi g with Uk ai e. I July, the Uk ai ia Ag ibusi ess Club (UCAB) epo ted a 23% dec ease i expo ts.

Mea while, Uk ai e has g ow i c easi gly adept at ca yi g out lo g- a ge st ikes o Russia te ito y. Its ece t attacks o vessels i the easte Black Sea have dis upted Russia’s g ai shipme ts, too.

Russia is the wo ld’s la gest wheat expo te – but acco di g to a Moscow-based a alytics compa y, expo ts fo August could fall by mo e tha half compa ed to the same mo th ove the last five yea s due to the dis uptio i the Black a d Azov seas.

O Wed esday, Russia fo eig mi ist y spokeswoma Ma ia Zakha ova accused Uk ai e of ca yi g out st ikes o Russia g ai a d ag icultu al i f ast uctu e, esulti g i a hike i global food p ices a d g owi g g ai sho tages.

But Zakha ova also said that Russia would co ti ue st iki g “facilities that [Uk ai e’s a med fo ces] use o the Black Sea to destabilise the avigatio situatio ” u til “the full elimi atio of th eats to secu ity p ojected to the Sea of Azov a d the Black Sea”.

Co ce s ove how the wa i Uk ai e would affect global food supplies have bee pe siste t si ce the sta t of Russia’s i vasio i 2022.

Togethe , Russia a d Uk ai e accou t fo a sig ifica t sha e of global g ai t ade, pa ticula ly fo buye s i No th Af ica, the Middle East a d pa ts of Asia.

The 2022 Black Sea G ai I itiative, u de which Russia ag eed to lift its blockade o Uk ai e’s ag icultu al expo ts, did ot last afte Moscow esumed attacks o vessels usi g the ma itime co ido s to Odesa the followi g yea .