KYIV, Ukraine A U.N.-brokered grain agreement that saw more than 9 million tons of grain transferred from Ukraine throughout the conflict and reduced skyrocketing global food prices would immediately come to an end, Russia stated on Saturday. Russia was accused by Ukraine of instigating “global hunger games.”
The action was taken, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, in response to an alleged Ukrainian drone strike on Russian Black Sea Fleet ships that were anchored off the coast of occupied Crimea on Saturday. The incident was denied by Ukraine, who claimed that Russians handled their own weaponry improperly.
The Russian announcement came one day after Antonio Guterres, the head of the United Nations, encouraged Russia and Ukraine to extend the grain export agreement, which was set to expire on November 19. Additionally, Guterres asked other nations, including those in the West, to swiftly remove any barriers preventing the shipment of Russian grain and fertilizer.
According to the U.N. chief’s spokesman, the grain deal, which was mediated by the organization and Turkey in July, aids in “cushioning the misery that this global cost of living crisis is inflicting on billions of people.”
In relation to the stated suspension, U.N. representatives were in contact with Russian authorities.
According to Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, “it is crucial that all parties refrain from any action that would jeopardize the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is a crucial humanitarian initiative that is obviously having a beneficial impact on access to food for millions of people.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, described the Russian action as “expected.” Since September, he claimed, Moscow has been “blockading” grain-carrying ships. He claimed that more than 2 million tons of food are currently being carried by 176 vessels that are held up at sea.
Zelenskyy stated in his nightly video message on Saturday that “this is an obvious attempt by Russia to return to the prospect of large-scale starvation in Africa and Asia.” He demanded that international organizations like the United Nations and the G-20 take severe action against Russia.
Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, charged Russia with conducting “hunger games” by endangering international food shipments.
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry charged British experts of taking part in the purported drone attack on Russian ships in Crimea. The Defense Ministry of Britain was unable to respond to the claim right away.
“Due to the actions of Ukrainian armed forces, led by British experts, directed, among other things, against Russian ships that ensure the operation of the humanitarian corridor in question (which cannot be qualified other than a terrorist attack), the Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships participating in the Black Sea initiative, and suspends its implementation from today for an indefinite period,” the Russian state
The Black Sea grain route, which is “exclusively humanitarian in nature,” has never been endangered by Ukraine, according to the ministry of infrastructure, and shipments will continue to be attempted. More than 9 million tons of food have reportedly been exported since the first ship sailed from Odesa on August 1, with more than 5 million tons going to African and Asian nations. According to the statement, 190,000 tons of wheat have been distributed to hungry nations as part of the U.N. World Food Program.
Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s first deputy envoy to the UN, stated that Russia also asked for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday due to the alleged attack on the Black Sea Fleet and the security of the grain corridor.
Russia is prepared to “completely replace Ukrainian grain and offer supplies at competitive prices to any interested countries,” according to the country’s ministry of agriculture. Dmitry Patrushev stated that Moscow was ready to work with Turkey to “provide up to 500,000 tons of food to the poorest countries free of charge in the next four months” in remarks aired by the official Rossiya 24 TV channel.
The Crimea drone strike, in which at least one Russian ship was damaged near Sevastopol, a significant port on the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014, was the subject of conflicting accounts from Russia and Ukraine earlier on Saturday.
An alleged pre-dawn Ukrainian attack on navy and civilian vessels docked in Sevastopol, which houses the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, allegedly resulted in “minimal damage” to a minesweeper, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. According to the government, 16 drones were attacked but “repelled” by Russian forces.
Mikhail Razvozhaev, the governor of the Sevastopol region, asserted that drones from the air and the water launched a “massive attack” on the port. He said that all video will be seized for security reasons but offered no proof.
However, a consultant for the interior ministry of Ukraine asserted that explosions on four warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were the result of “careless handling of explosives.” The ships, according to Anton Gerashchenko’s Telegram post, featured a frigate, a landing ship, and a ship carrying cruise missiles used in a devastating attack on a western Ukrainian city in July.
In other developments on Saturday, Ukrainian officials reported that as their forces fought to regain the province, Russian troops transferred a sizable number of sick and injured comrades from hospitals in the southern Kherson region of Ukraine and took the facilities’ medical supplies.
Authorities appointed by the Kremlin in the largely Russian-occupied territory have reportedly urged residents to leave Kherson, the province’s capital, and join the tens of thousands who have apparently gone to other Russia-held territories.
In Kherson and other occupied areas, Zelenskyy claimed that the Russians were “dismantling the entire health care system.”
“The invaders have made the decision to shut down medical facilities in urban areas, remove equipment, and seize ambulances. Everything, really,” Zelenskyy added.
One of the four Ukrainian regions that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally invaded last month and then imposed martial control on was Kherson. Donetsk, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia are the other three.
Russia continued to shell and launch missiles at Ukraine while Kyiv’s military sought gains in the south. While Russian troops attempt to take the city of Bakhmut, a crucial objective in Russia’s delayed eastern operation, eight more people were hurt and three more civilians killed in the Donetsk region.
An industrial structure in the southern Zaporizhzhia area of Ukraine was also struck by Russian bombardment.
50 Ukrainian troops, including two former guards of the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol, and two civilians were freed on Saturday as part of the most recent prisoner exchange with Russia, who in return received 50 Russian soldiers, according to reports from both countries.
