The day following the signing of the agreement to export Ukrainian grain, which was halted due to the war, Ukraine announced that Russian missiles had hit the main port of Odessa on the Black Sea and the main one in the country. grain agreement Which was under the auspices of the United Nations and a Turkish guarantee.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko considered Russia’s attack on Odessa a “slap and humiliation” for Turkey and the United Nations following the agreement was signed yesterday, calling on the United Nations and Turkey to abide by the commitments made in the Istanbul Agreement.
Kyiv also blamed Moscow if the grain export agreement collapsed.
cruise missiles
The representative of the Odessa region, Sergey Brachuk, announced in a statement on social media that “Moscow attacked the Odessa sea port with Kalibr cruise missiles,” adding, “Air defenses shot down two missiles and two missiles hit the port’s infrastructure.” Odessa.
Plumes of smoke were seen in the port following explosions sounded.
These developments came less than 24 hours following Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations signed the Ukrainian grain export agreement in Istanbul.
Smoke rises as a result of the Russian bombing of Odessa, Ukraine – AFP
In his speech at the signing ceremony of the agreement in Istanbul, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said that the agreement opens the way for large quantities of commercial food exports from 3 main Ukrainian ports: Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
The Ukrainian side during the signing of the grain agreement in Turkey under the auspices of the United Nations
Avoid starvation
It is noteworthy that this agreement aims to avoid a famine that threatens tens of millions of people in poor countries by pumping more wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizers and other products into global markets.
It will also be valid for a period of “120 days”, that is, 4 months, which is the period required to extract regarding 25 million tons of grain accumulated in Ukrainian silos as a result of the Russian Arabs.
While Moscow denied responsibility for the worsening food crisis, instead blaming Western sanctions for slowing its exports of food and fertilizer, and accused Ukraine of mining roads to the Black Sea ports.
