Russia resumed its targeting of grain infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, local officials said Wednesday, using drones in overnight strikes on storage facilities and ports along the Danube River that Kyiv has increasingly used for grain transport to Europe after Moscow broke off a key wartime export deal through the Black Sea.
A container ship trapped in Odesa due to Russia’s invasion is finally moving via a temporary corridor to the Bosporus. Ukraine’s war-hit economy heavily relies on agriculture, vital for global wheat, barley, and sunflower oil supplies, essential for developing nations.
After the Kremlin tore up a month ago an agreement brokered last summer by the UN and Turkey to ensure safe Ukraine grain exports through the Black Sea, Kyiv has sought to reroute transport through the Danube and road and rail links into Europe. But transport costs that way are much higher, some European countries have balked at the consequences for local grain prices, and the Danube ports can’t handle the same volume as seaports.
Odesa Gov Oleh Kiper said the primary targets of Russia’s overnight drone bombardment were port terminals and grain silos, including at the ports in the Danube delta. Air defences managed to intercept 13 drones, according to Kiper. It was the latest attack amid weeks of aerial strikes as Russia has targeted the Danube delta ports, which are only about 15 km (10 miles) from the Romanian border. The Danube is Europe’s second-longest river and a key transport route.
The Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte was travelling down a temporary corridor that Ukraine asked the International Maritime Organisation to ratify. The United States has warned that the Russian military is preparing for possible attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea.
Sea mines also make the voyage risky, and ship insurance costs are likely to be high for operators. Ukraine told the IMO it would would “provide guarantees of compensation for damage”.
Last Sunday, a Russian warship fired warning shots at a Palau-flagged cargo ship in the south Black Sea. According to Russia’s Defence Ministry, the Sukru Okan was heading northwards to the Ukrainian Danube River port of Izmail. Ship-tracking data analysed by The Associated Press confirmed that the Joseph Schulte was steaming south. The Joseph Schulte is carrying more than 30,000 tons of cargo, with 2,114 containers, including food products, according to Kubrakov. He said the corridor will be primarily used to evacuate ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Pivdennyi since the outbreak of war.
