Despite suspending its involvement in a U.N. programme to securely transport grain from the conflict zone, ships brought grain into Ukrainian ports on Monday, signalling Moscow had refrained from reimposing an embargo that may have contributed to world hunger.
As Russia renewed its aerial attacks, air raid sirens sounded throughout Ukraine, and explosions in Kyiv sent black smoke into the sky. According to Ukrainian officials, an attack on the energy infrastructure resulted in the loss of power.
Despite Moscow’s withdrawal from the agreement, grain ships continue to sail as missiles are being fired at Ukraine
The military of Ukraine claimed to have intercepted 44 out of 50 Russian missiles. However, attacks on the capital’s pumping infrastructure left 80 percent of Kyiv without running water, according to authorities, who added that they intended to rapidly restore it. According to reports, there were two injuries in the Kyiv area.
Even then, it appeared that at least one disastrous situation had been averted for the time being with the restart of food exports from Ukrainian ports. After Russia declared on Saturday that it was halting its participation in the U.N.-backed programme that escorts cargo ships through the Black Sea, international diplomats had feared that Moscow would reimpose an embargo on Ukrainian grain.
“Military targets or hostages cannot ever be taken from civilian cargo ships. Food must be served, “The U.N. officer in charge of the program’s coordination, Amir Abdullah, tweeted.
Ukraine said shortly after that 12 ships had sailed. The 354,500 tonnes of grain they transported were the largest on a single day since the program’s inception, indicating that when exports were halted on Sunday, a backlog was being cleared.
However, it was unclear right away whether deliveries would be stopped again after Monday, especially whether insurers would permit other ships to set sail.
Russia’s missile attacks on Ukrainian civilian infrastructure, particularly power plants, during Monday’s morning rush hour were a repetition of a strategy it has used this month.
Dmytro Kuleba, Russia’s foreign minister, declared, “Russia fights people; it does not fight on the battlefield.” “Don’t call these strikes a’response,’ because Russia is still willing to kill Ukrainians and has the means to do so.
“Like millions of Ukrainians, our @USEmbassyKyiv team is once again taking shelter as Russia continues its callous and savage missile assaults on the people of Ukraine in an effort to leave the country freezing and dark as we approach winter,” tweeted Bridget Brink, the U.S. ambassador to Kyiv.
Russian forces have been attacking Ukrainian civil infrastructure for the past three weeks with high-priced long-range missiles and low-priced “suicide drones” of Iranian manufacture that fly at a target and explode.
Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, reported that missile and drone strikes on 10 different regions of his country on Monday hit 18 objectives, most of which were energy facilities.
Moscow said that it was compelled to cancel the Black Sea grain transport agreement after Kiev was held responsible for explosions that on Saturday damaged Russian navy ships in the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
Although Ukraine claims that Russia’s navy is a legitimate military target, it has neither confirmed nor denied that it was behind the explosions that struck the Crimean base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Moscow claimed that a wave of air and sea drones was to blame for the explosions.
Russia was accused by the United States of using food as a weapon after it abruptly halted its involvement in the grain transportation programme over the weekend. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, claimed that Moscow was “blackmailing the globe with starvation.” Russia disputes that’s what it wants.
The pact was “barely viable,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, because Russia could no longer ensure the security of shipping. He omitted to indicate why the cargoes would no longer be safe and shied away from saying under what circumstances Moscow may rejoin the agreement.
However, the restart of grain imports from Ukraine on Monday signalled that Moscow was holding off on attempting to impose a fresh blockade.
Ukraine and Russia are both among the world’s largest exporters of food. For three months, the U.N.-backed deal has guaranteed Ukrainian exports can reach markets, lifting a Russian de facto blockade on Ukraine. The news that Moscow was pulling out of the deal had sent global wheat prices soaring by more than 5% on Monday morning.
The ships that sailed on Monday included one hired by the U.N. World Food Programme to bring 40,000 tonnes of grain to drought-hit Africa.
“Even if Russia behaves hesitantly because it didn’t receive the same benefits, we will continue decisively our efforts to serve humanity,” Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who helped mediate the grain deal, said in a speech.
“It is clear that we are making an effort to send this wheat to nations that are in danger of becoming hungry. By working together through the cooperative mechanism we built in Istanbul, we helped alleviate a severe worldwide food crisis, “added he.
