Ukraine war: outraged by Russian strike on Odesa, Ukraine still prepares to resume grain exports

Moscow and Kyiv signed a deal on Friday that would restore grain shipments from 3 reopened ports to pre-war levels of 5 million tonnes a month

President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the strikes on Odesa as blatant ‘barbarism’ that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday’s deal

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Firefighters work to put out a fire in a sea port of Odesa, southern Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said that the fire at the port was caused by a missile attack. Moscow and Kyiv recently signed a landmark deal to aid grain exports and ease an international food crisis. Photo: EPA-EFE/Odesa City Hall Press Office handout

Published: 1:21pm, 24 Jul 2022Updated: 1:25pm, 24 Jul 2022

Ukraine was pressing ahead on Sunday with efforts to restart grain exports from Odesa and other Black Sea ports after a missile attack that cast doubt over whether Russia would honour a deal aimed at easing global food shortages caused by the war.

President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the strikes on Odesa as blatant “barbarism” that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday’s deal, mediated by Türkiye and the United Nations.

However, a government minister said preparations to resume grain shipments were ongoing, and public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not significantly damaged the port.

The deal signed by Moscow and Kyiv was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough that would help curb soaring global food prices, but as the war entered its sixth month on Sunday there was no sign of a let-up in the fighting.

While the main theatre of combat has been the eastern region of Donbas, Zelensky said in video posted late on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were moving “step by step” into the occupied eastern Black Sea region of Kherson.