Only on Friday did Russia and Ukraine agree to open the port of Odessa. He was shot at the very next day. Russia denies having anything to do with it.
The port of Odessa, which was hit by two rockets on Saturday, is central to the export of Ukraine’s grain.
Just a day after the conclusion of an agreement on the resumption of grain exports from Odessa is the Ukrainian Black Sea port been fired at with rockets. Two Russian cruise missiles of the type Kalibr hit the port area on Saturday morning, the Ukrainian armed forces said. Two more missiles were intercepted by anti-aircraft guns. The attack was harshly condemned internationally, while Moscow denies any responsibility for it.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said it took Russia less than 24 hours to break its commitments to Turkey and the United Nations by launching a missile attack on the port of Odessa. With the attack, the Kremlin “spit in the face” of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after they had campaigned strongly for the agreement.
Guterres celebrated the agreement as a “beacon of hope” when it was signed in Istanbul on Friday. In a first reaction he condemned the attack and urged the full implementation of the agreement. Since the beginning of the war, Odessa has been hit by Russian missiles several times. However, it is the first time since February that the port facilities of the southern Ukrainian city have been shelled.
The Kremlin denies any responsibility
Of the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borell explained, the “reprehensible attack” on a plant that is central to grain exports once again shows Russia’s complete disregard for international law. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, who signed the agreement on Turkey’s behalf on Friday, made the statement deeply concerned about the attack. After speaking with Moscow, Akar said the Russians had assured him that they had nothing to do with it and that they were closely investigating the incident.
The attack comes a day before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov leaves for a tour of Africa. On the continent, many states are concerned about the dramatic rise in grain prices since the beginning of the war. According to the UN, an additional 47 million people worldwide are at risk of starvation. The countries of North Africa and the Middle East in particular are heavily dependent on grain imports from Russia and Ukraine.
The Kremlin denies blocking Ukrainian ports or being responsible for the spike in grain prices. Instead, he accuses the West of impeding the export of Russian grain with its sanctions. According to the Russian account, only the sea mines that Ukraine laid off its coasts to protect against a Russian landing operation prevent the use of the ports. In fact, Russia has repeatedly shelled ports and merchant ships.
The attack fuels doubts about the agreement
After long negotiations, Ukraine and Russia finally agreed on Friday on the modalities for resuming shipping traffic from the ports of Odessa, Yuzhne and Chornomorsk. Accordingly, Ukrainian pilots should steer the cargo ships through a narrow corridor that is to be cleared of mines. In Istanbul, the freighters are then to be searched by Turkish officials to ensure that they are only transporting grain.
Although it may be weeks before the mines are cleared and the first grain ships can leave Ukrainian ports, the agreement was met with relief around the world on Friday. However, there was also skepticism that Moscow would actually allow the ports to be opened and the grain to be exported. After the attack on Odessa said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: “This only shows one thing: Whatever Russia says and promises, it will find a way not to implement it.”