Ukraine prepares to resume grain exports after Odesa missile strike

UKRAINE: Ukraine pressed ahead on July 24 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 Zelenskiy denounced the strikes on Odesa as blatant “barbarism” that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday’s deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.

However, a Government Minister said preparations to resume grain shipments were ongoing. Public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not significantly damaged the port.

Russia said on July 24 its forces had hit a Ukrainian military boat in Odesa with missiles. 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 July 24 there was no sign of a let-up in the fighting.

While the main theatre of combat has been the eastern region of Donbas, President Zelenskiy said in video posted late on July 23 that Ukrainian forces were moving “step by step” into the occupied eastern Black Sea region of Kherson.

– THE HINDUSTAN TIMES