Pointing the finger at Russia, Ukraine’s air force chief said the port — a key site for exporting grain — had been deliberately targetted.
“The port of Odesa, where grain is processed for shipment, was shelled. We shot down two missiles, and two more missiles hit the port territory, where, obviously, there is grain,” he specified
Russia has denied any involvement in the strikes, says Turkey’s defence minister.
The strike has been “unequivocally condemned” by the UN, alongside EU officials, such as EU Commission Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles, who said it “demonstrates Russia’s total disregard for international law.”
Oleksiy Goncharenko, Odesa MP, said early Saturday morning that four “Kalibr missiles” were fired at the port in the south of Ukraine.
He continued that the strikes had left wounded in Odesa, without specifying how many people or how serious their injuries were.
On Friday, Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement to allow millions of tonnes of much-needed wheat and maize to be shipped from Ukraine over the Black Sea.
Odesa the largest and most important port on the Black Sea is integral for staging these shipments.
Under the deal, which was brokered in Istanbul by Turkey and the UN, both Kyiv and Moscow agreed “not to attack” ships carrying grain as they sailed the heavily mined waters.
Goncharenko said there had been six explosions in the city of Odea and that its port had caught fire after the attack.
He added that the Ukrainian airforce was engaging Russian planes over the city in southern Ukraine.
Writing on Twitter, Goncharenko claimed “Putin [has] started to threaten [the] grain deal less than in 24 hours after its signing. He’s weaponising everything.”
Turkey, which played a key role in bringing the two sides together, said it was “concerned” by the Russian strikes.
“The fact that such an incident happened right after the agreement we reached yesterday… really concerns us,” Turkish defence minister Hulusi Akar said.
Leaders of the African Union had welcomed the deal as their continent is heavily reliant on Ukrainian grain, which provides 40% of the wheat for the World Food Programme.
Ukraine accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “spitting in the face” of the UN and Turkey by bombing Odesa port, saying Moscow would bear “full responsibility” if the agreement failed.
By firing missiles at Odesa, Putin “spit in the face of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who have made enormous efforts to reach this agreement”, said Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko.
التعليقات