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Russian strikes on Odessa port cast doubt over grain deal
The Ukrainian military said its air defences had shot down two cruise missiles but two more hit the port Saturday, threatening the landmark agreement hammered out over months of negotiations aimed at relieving a global food crisis.
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Swimmers bathe in the Danube river next to anti-tank obstacles on the beach near Izmail, in the Odessa region on June 14, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP/Oleksandr Gimanov)
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krainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced a missile strike on the port of Odessa as "Russian barbarism" just a day after the warring sides struck a deal to resume cereal exports blocked by the conflict.
The Ukrainian military said its air defences had shot down two cruise missiles but two more hit the port Saturday, threatening the landmark agreement hammered out over months of negotiations aimed at relieving a global food crisis.
Zelensky said the strikes on Odessa showed Moscow could not be trusted to keep its promises.
"Today's Russian missile attack on Odessa, on our port, is a cynical one, and it was also a blow to the political positions of Russia itself," Zelensky said in his nightly address, adding dialogue with Moscow was becoming increasingly untenable.
"This apparent Russian barbarism brings us even closer to obtaining the very weapons we need for our victory," Zelensky added.
The strike came a day after Moscow and Kyiv agreed a deal brokered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations chief Antonio Guterres.
Odessa is one of three export hubs designated in the agreement and Ukrainian officials said grain was being stored in the port at the time of the strike, although the food stocks did not appear to have been hit.
