Explosions in the port of Izmail hit the elevator and damaged elevators, warehouses and other buildings. Photo: @pgo_gov_ua/Newsflash
Ukraine was forced to close a key river port on Wednesday as Russia stepped up its attacks targeting the best remaining route to get grain out of the country.
A nighttime drone attack on the port of Izmail, near the border with NATO member Romania, damaged almost 40,000 tons of grain destined for Africa, China and Israel, said Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's infrastructure minister.
First targeting large export hubs on the coast, Russia began to attack smaller ports on the Danube River, a vital alternative route for shipping food to Europe.
Explosions in Izmail were visible from the nearby Romanian village of Tulcea, as drones hit an elevator and damaged elevators, warehouses and other buildings.
Moscow stepped up its attacks in the southwestern part of the Odessa region after it withdrew from deal on the Black Sea, which allowed Ukraine to export tens of millions of tons of grain.
Drone attack on the port of Izmail damaged almost 40,000 tons of grain Photo: Prosecutor General's Office via Telegram/via REUTERS
Last week, Russian long-range missiles hit the port of Reni, just 200 meters from the Romanian border, damaged grain elevators and warehouses.
There are also fears that Russia may soon switch to rail links to and from Ukraine if they have to be used to transport grain across Kiev's western land borders.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Wednesday said: “Russian terrorists have again attacked ports, grain and global food security. The world must respond.
«When civilian ports are targeted, when even elevators are deliberately destroyed by terrorists, it is a threat to everyone on every continent,» he said.
Russia Attacks Grain Port Routes to Block Exports of Goods to Europe Photo: Prosecutor General's Office via Telegram/via REUTERS
Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania, said Russia's repeated attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure along the river were «unacceptable.»
“These are war crimes, and they further affect Ukraine’s ability to transfer its food to those in need around the world,” he said.
Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, on Wednesday stated that the country needs to «strengthen its air defense» to repel Russian attacks.
Sidharth Kaushal, a research fellow at the Rusi think tank, said Russia's current strategy is to prevent Ukraine from bypassing the blockade of Black Sea ports by targeting smaller facilities on the Danube.
«However, land routes could also become a target, [but ] given the increased cost of land transit and the political problems this has caused in countries like Poland, this may be less of a problem for Russians,” he said.
>
Ukraine and Russia are the world's two largest grain exporters and key food suppliers to developing countries.
The latest Russian attack on Ukrainian grain and port facilities immediately caused Chicago's wheat trade to jump more than four percent. The price of corn rose by more than 2% and that of corn by 2.6%.
Moscow has imposed a naval blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea after launching a full-scale invasion last year.
Grain that could have fed millions of people around the world soon began to pile up in elevators, pushing up food prices. will rise sharply.
0308 Ukrainian grain exports
With Russian warships controlling routes in and out of the Black Sea, ports on the Danube River have become the only shipping routes for grain stuck in Ukraine.
Deal on grain in the Black Sea was eventually concluded in July last year through the mediation of the UN and Turkey, which opened a safe passage for cargo through the waters.
But two weeks ago, Russia withdrew from the treaty and warned that any ships bound for Ukraine's Black Sea ports could be targeted by its fleet.
With the Black Sea route effectively blocked, the previously obscure ports of Izmail and Reni on the Danube have become critical important to the global food supply.
Before the war, they were practically not used. But in recent months they have helped ship about a third of Ukraine's agricultural exports, including grains.
Ships stop
But transit hubs are struggling to process all the incoming grain, leading to massive bottlenecks.
Commercial ship tracking data on Wednesday showed dozens of international ships stopping and anchoring at the mouth of the Danube. , many of them registered to arrive in Izmail from the Black Sea in an apparent attempt to break the Russian blockade.
After the attacks on Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Vladimir Putin to sit down for new negotiations on a Black Sea grain deal.< /p>
The press secretary said that the Turkish leader «expressed the importance of refraining from steps that could lead to an escalation of tension during the Russian-Ukrainian war, emphasizing the importance of the Black Sea Initiative, which he called the bridge of peace.»
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that Putin is «ready to return to the deal immediately» but only if Russian grain and fertilizer exports are unlocked as part of the deal.
Свежие комментарии