Russian missiles targeted the Black Sea port of Odessa on Saturday, Ukraine announced, accusing Moscow of compromising the application of the agreement signed the day before for the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports blocked by the war. According to kyiv, these shots hit a grain processing plant in the port.
Barely 24 hours later the signing in Istanbul of the agreement unblocking the ports Ukrainians and allowing the long-awaited export of Ukrainian cereals, Russia has just put a dramatic stroke of the penknife in the contract by bombarding the installations of the port of Odessa this Saturday, July 23.
In the morning, residents of Odessa saw four Kalibr-type cruise missiles, fired from Crimea, cross the blue sky, reports our correspondent in kyiv, Stephane Siohan. Two of them were intercepted by anti-aircraft defense and the other two fell on port facilities in the city. ” The enemy attacked the port of Odessa with Kalibr type cruise missiles. Two missiles were shot down by air defense “, announced a spokesman for the administration of the Odessa region, Serguiï Bratchouk, in a press release posted on social networks.
These Russian missiles hit a grain processing plant in Odessa, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ignat told AFP. ” The port of Odessa was shelled, especially where shipping processes were taking place. We shot down two missiles, and two more missiles hit the port infrastructure where obviously there was grain “, he added. According to the governor of the region, Maksym Marchenko, these strikes caused several injuries, but he did not specify the number.
” Russia will bear full responsibility »
The reactions were not long in kyiv, where the political leaders spoke very quickly. “ The firing of Russian missiles at Odessa is Putin’s spat in the face of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who worked hard to reach this agreement “, declared the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyiv, Oleg Nikolenko. ” It will have taken less than 24 hours for Russia to break its promises and undermine the commitments made before the UN and Turkey, continues the spokesperson. If the Istanbul agreement is not respected, Russia will bear the responsibility for the world food crisis. »
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, described the event as ” Russian diplomatic dichotomy “, pointing to the lack of confidence in the Russian word.
The Istanbul agreement, initialed separately by the two belligerents, provided that the grain transport terminals would be protected from the bombardments allowing the export of between 20 and 25 million tonnes of grain blocked in Ukraine. This is enough to relieve the countries dependent on the Russian and Ukrainian markets, which together represent 30% of the world wheat trade.
UN chief’s ‘unequivocal’ condemnation
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he ” unequivocally condemned these missile shots, adding that “ full implementation [de l’accord] by the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Turkey is imperative “.
Turkey, she said she was worried. “We are disturbed, but we continue to assume our responsibilities regarding this agreement,” said the Turkish representative during the negotiations on cereals. The Turkish Defense Minister then assured that the strikes had not hampered “the capacity and potential of the docks”.
Moscow, for its part, tried to ease tensions and denied any involvement in these strikes. Ankara claimed that the Russians certified them ” they were looking into the matter very closely. »
Not enough to reassure the European Union which ” strongly condemns the attack “. “ Hitting a crucial grain export target one day after the signing of the Istanbul Accords is particularly reprehensible and once again demonstrates Russia’s utter disregard for international law and commitments “, reacted the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, on Twitter.
Finally, the United States, which had welcomed the agreement on the export of cereals before quickly expressing its skepticism as to the respect of Russian commitments. The American ambassador in Ukraine supported the idea that “the Kremlin continues to militarize food”.