Scores of exploding drones and six cruise missiles from a predawn Russian attack on the key port of Odessa were shot down by Ukrainian forces on Tuesday, authorities said, a day after Moscow broke off a deal that had allowed Kyiv to ship vital grain supplies from the Black Sea city during the war.
The Russians first sought to wear down Ukraine’s air defenses with the drones and then targeted Odessa with six Kalibr cruise missiles, the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command said.
All six missiles and 25 drones were shot down by air defenses in the Odessa region and other areas in the south but their debris and shock waves damaged some port facilities and a few residential buildings, injuring an elderly man at his home, officials said.
The attack on one of Ukraine's main ports for exporting grain came a day after the Kremlin blamed Ukraine and pledged to retaliate for blasts on Russia's road bridge to the occupied Crimean Peninsula. The bridge that was knocked out by what Moscow says were strikes by Ukrainian seaborne drones is a key supply route for Russian forces in the war.
Odessa has often been attacked since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 although the port was part of the U.N.- and Türkiye-brokered deal allowing the safe Black Sea export of grain that Russia pulled out of on Monday.
The exit sparked outrage from Ukraine's Western allies and the United Nations, which warned millions of the world's poorest would "pay the price."
The latest attack was "further proof that the country-terrorist wants to endanger the lives of 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports," Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, said on Telegram.
Hunger is a growing threat in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.
"The world must realize that the goal of the Russian Federation is hunger and killing people,” Yermak said. "They need waves of refugees. They want to weaken the West with this.”
The Kremlin said the agreement would be suspended until Moscow’s demands to lift restrictions on exports of Russian food and fertilizer to the world are met.
Ukrainian authorities also reported a fire late on Monday at an unspecified facility in the port of Mykolaiv, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, but gave few details.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday its forces had foiled a Ukrainian attack on occupied Crimea using 28 drones. The ministry said 17 of the attacking drones were shot down by air defenses and 11 others were jammed by electronic warfare means and crashed. It said there was no damage or casualties.
The Black Sea grain export deal was one of the only diplomatic successes of the war, lifting a de facto Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports and heading off a global food emergency.
Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's biggest exporters of grain and other foodstuffs. If Ukrainian grain is again blocked from the market, prices could soar around the world, hitting the poorest countries hardest.
Moscow's move "will strike a blow to people in need everywhere," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters on Monday.
"Hundreds of millions of people face hunger and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis. They will pay the price," he said.
Russia says it could return to the grain deal, but only if its demands are met for rules to be eased for its own exports of food and fertilizer. Western countries call that an attempt to use leverage over food supplies to force a weakening in financial sanctions, which already provide exceptions to allow Russia to sell food.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the grain deal to continue without Russia's participation, effectively seeking Türkiye's backing to negate the Russian blockade. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the deal’s powerful sponsor, says he thinks Moscow can be persuaded to return.
"We are not afraid. We have been approached by companies that own ships. They said that they are ready" to continue shipments, Zelenskyy said.
The U.N. said a final ship carrying Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea was inspected in Istanbul on Monday, a few hours before the deal expired.
Erdoğan on Monday said he still believed Russian President Vladimir Putin "wants the continuation of this humanitarian bridge." He said he would talk with the Russian leader before his anticipated visit to Türkiye in August.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday to address the latest developments regarding the Black Sea grain deal, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Commenting on suggestions that Türkiye could protect ships, the Kremlin said on Tuesday that shipping grain without security guarantees from Russia would carry risks because Ukraine uses those Black Sea waters for military activities.
"Without appropriate security guarantees, certain risks arise here. If (a future agreement) is formalized without Russia, then these risks should be taken into account," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a briefing.
"The (grain deal) zone is used by the Kyiv regime for combat purposes," he suggested.
Peskov said Moscow rejected U.S. criticism of its withdrawal from the initiative and said Russia would continue supplying grain to poor countries.
Any attempt to reopen Ukrainian grain shipments without Russia's participation would probably depend on insurance companies agreeing to provide coverage. Industry sources have told Reuters they are considering the implications.
Separately, Poland's Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said Russia was using grain as ammunition. Telus urged EU to help improve grain logistics as more Ukraine grain will start flowing through borders after the harvest.
Neighboring Moldova condemned the attacks and Russia's decision not to extend the Black Sea grain deal.
"Last night's bombing of Odessa region, including the port, reveals Russia's tactic of weaponizing food depriving those most in need," Moldova's Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said on Twitter.
U.S. aid chief Samantha Power, who announced more than $500 million in humanitarian assistance during a visit to Ukraine on Monday, was expected to visit Odessa on Tuesday.
