Vladimir Putin’s navy ships may be targeted by Ukrainian maritime drones as Russia seeks to stop the export of grain from key ports despite warnings it could cause starvation for millions.
British military chiefs also accused the Kremlin of seeking to mask the real reasons for Putin’s decision to pull out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Russian strikes on Ukrainian port areas continued on Thursday, local authorities said, after Moscow warned that ships heading to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.
In its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence in London said: “The Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) will likely now take a more active role in disrupting any trade which continues.
“However, BSF blockade operations will be at risk from Ukrainian uncrewed surface vehicles and coastal defence cruise missiles.”
The briefing added: “Russia likely made the decision to leave (the agreement) some time ago because it decided that the deal was no longer serving its interests.
“Russia has masked this with disinformation, claiming its withdrawal is instead due to concerns that civilian ships are at risk from Ukrainian mines and that Ukraine was making military use of the grain corridor without providing evidence for these claims.”
As concerns grew over Russia pulling out of a deal that has protected global shipments of Ukrainian grain, authorities in the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions reported some 20 people injured in the missile strikes.
With Russia’s exit from the year-old threatening to worsen global food supplies, Ukraine said on Wednesday it was establishing a temporary shipping route via Romania, a neighbouring Black Sea country.
“Its goal is to facilitate the unblocking of international shipping in the north-western part of the Black Sea,” Vasyl Shkurakov, Ukraine’s acting minister for communities, territories and infrastructure development, said in a letter to the UN’s International Shipping Organization.
Ukraine and Russia are among the world’s top grain exporters. U.S. wheat futures jumped 8.5 per cent on Wednesday, their biggest daily gain since days after Putin’s invasion.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said flag states of ships travelling to Ukrainian ports would be considered parties to the conflict on Ukraine’s side.
After the last ship left Ukraine on Sunday under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia attacked the Odesa region on Monday and Tuesday nights. The region’s three ports had been the only ones operating in Ukraine under the grain deal.
Grains terminals and an industrial facility, warehouses, shopping malls, residential and administrative buildings and cars were damaged on Tuesday night, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine’s southern military command said Russia had used supersonic missiles, including the Kh-22 that was designed to take out aircraft carriers, to hit Odesa’s port infrastructure.
“In the ports that were attacked there was about a million tonnes of food stored,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Wednesday.
“It is precisely that amount that should already have been delivered to consumer countries in Africa and Asia.
“In the terminal damaged the most from Russian terror tonight, 60,000 tonnes of agricultural products were stored, intended for shipment to China,” he added.
Early on Thursday, at least 18 people were wounded in the strike on the port city of Mykolaiv, the regional governor said, while an Odesa official said two people had been hospitalised after a strike caused a fire.
US officials have information indicating Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports in what appeared to be “a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adam Hodge.
Putin accused Western countries of “perverting” the grain deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said Russia’s exit from the deal threatens to worsen global food insecurity and could increase food prices, especially in poor countries.
Putin said Russia would immediately return to the pact if Moscow’s conditions were met, easing curbs on its exports of food and fertiliser. Western countries call this an attempt to leverage food supplies to weaken financial sanctions, which still allow Russia to sell food.
Away from the ports, fighting continued on Wednesday in eastern and southern Ukraine where Kyiv’s counter-offensive is trying to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces. The Russians have dug into a heavily fortified front line.
In Washington, the Pentagon announced additional security assistance for Ukraine, totalling about $1.3 billion (£1 billion), with the package including air defence capabilities and munitions.
In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers are expected to discuss a proposal on Thursday to spend up to 20 billion euros (£17 billion) on weapons, ammunition and other military aid for Ukraine over four years.
