RUSSIAN STRIKES HIT the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a third consecutive night since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal, officials have said, as Crimean authorities said a teenager had died in Kyiv’s latest attack on the peninsula.
At least 20 people were wounded following strikes on Odesa and the southern port city of Mykolaiv, local officials said, posting images showing buildings in flames with facades partially destroyed.
An “administrative building” in Odesa’s city centre was destroyed and others damaged, according to a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern military command, who said details were still being clarified.
A previous round of overnight strikes on Odesa destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain meant for export, Kyiv said on Wednesday, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing Moscow of “deliberately” targeting the supplies.
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year saw Black Sea ports blocked by warships until the gain agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022.
The Kremlin said on Monday it was exiting the deal, after months of complaining that the parts that had allowed the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured.
The deal enabled the export of more than 32 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain over the last year, bringing relief to countries facing critical food shortages such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Yemen.
Wheat prices soared on the European stock exchange on Wednesday.
Also Wednesday Moscow said it would consider cargo ships travelling to Ukraine through the Black Sea potential military targets.
A senior United States security official later told AFP that Russia was considering attacking civilian ships on the Black Sea and putting the blame on Kyiv.
National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge cited Russia’s release of a video showing its forces detecting and destroying an “alleged Ukrainian sea mine”.
“Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” he said.
“We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
In Crimea, a drone strike launched by Ukraine damaged four “administrative buildings” and killed a teenage girl, its Moscow-installed governor said early today.
The strike appeared to be the latest attack by Kyiv on the key supply artery for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine.
It came a day after a fire at a military site in Crimea forced authorities to evacuate thousands of civilians.
Officials have not specified the cause of the blaze, but some Russian media reported that detonations were heard in the area and footage showed columns of black smoke in the sky.
Earlier this week Ukraine used waterborne drones to attack the Kerch bridge, the only bridge connecting Russia to annexed Crimea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate for the attack, which killed two civilians and left their child wounded.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move not recognised by the international community.
Kyiv has repeatedly said it plans to take back the peninsula.
With the daily strikes in Odesa, Russian President Vladimir Putin “is robbing the world of any hope of Ukrainian grain”, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Twitter.
Ukraine said it was prepared to continue grain exports despite the end of the deal and called on other countries to help.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s European neighbours urged the EU to extend a grain import ban until the end of the year, amid fears local farmers would be undercut by diverted Ukrainian supplies.
In June, Brussels agreed to allow Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania to restrict imports of grain from Ukraine through September.
On the front, fighting is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, where Kyiv’s counteroffensive is so far struggling to break through Russia’s defensive lines despite extensive support from its allies.
The Russian army said it had advanced one kilometre along the frontline in Ukraine’s northeastern region of Kharkiv.
Ukraine is expected to receive more military support in the conflict with the United States announcing a new $1.3 billion aid package featuring air defence systems, anti-tank missiles, drones and other equipment.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has insisted it will be possible to secure prosecutions for war crimes in Ukraine.
He was speaking following his visit to several sites in Ukraine now synonymous with atrocities on civilians during the Russian invasion.
The Taoiseach signalled Ireland’s desire to further help the Ukrainian authorities on the investigative and evidence gathering processes.
“I think many people were surprised at the fact that when it came to the atrocities that happened in Bosnia, that many, many years later people like (Slobodan) Milosevic and (Radovan) Karadzic and so on were brought to justice. So, I do think it is possible,” he said.
“So, it’s important what we do now, which is we set up the mechanisms to bring about accountability to allow trials to happen in the future, also to start collecting evidence, because it does have to be a fair trial, therefore there needs to be evidence.
“And also to keep a register of damage, so that when the war is over Ukraine can be compensated and can be rebuilt.
“And Ireland is very much involved in that side of the work.”
One of the areas Varadkar visited on Wednesday was Bucha on the northern outskirts of Kyiv where he stopped at the Church of St Andrew where a mass grave was discovered after Russian soldiers retreated from the area.
Inside the building he was shown an exhibition of images of the graphic scenes captured during the exhumation process.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general Andrei Kostin, who accompanied the Taoiseach on the visit, explained the work being done to secure justice for those killed.
Reflecting on his trip to Kyiv, Varadkar said it was hard to put into words his feelings after seeing at first hand the “horrors” inflicted by Russia troops.
“I’ve just been thinking about any ways we might be able to help more than we are at the moment, because what Ukraine is fighting for is for what’s right in the world, for the principle that borders can’t be changed by violence any more.
“And also the right to self-determination, the right to choose their own path, which is to become full members of the European Union.
“And I think that we should do everything that we can to continue to support them financially, politically and practically as well.”
The Taoiseach again voiced strong support for a swift start to negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
He cautioned that gaining full membership could take some time but he highlighted the important symbolic significance of starting the process.
“There’ll be a report from the European Commission towards the end of the year and that will give prime ministers and presidents advisories, advice essentially, as to whether Ukraine is ready to begin those talks,” he said.
“But I think if that report from the commission is any way favourable, we should give the green light to talks on accession. It might be a long time before Ukraine can actually join, but beginning those talks is very important.
“And one thing President Zelenskyy said that really stuck with me is that soldiers and people fighting on the line for freedom, for democracy, for their European path, need to know that that isn’t just their dream, that we believe it (too) and we can make it a reality.”
On the Government’s own deliberations on Ireland’s future security policy, Varadkar said the country’s history of neutrality made it better positioned to convince countries yet to take a side on the war to back the Ukrainians.
“I think the war on Ukraine and Russia’s aggression against its neighbours has made us all rethink our security,” he said.
“For us, it’s going to mean increasing our spending on defence and security and that includes areas like cybersecurity, for example. It’s not just traditional defence.”
© AFP 2023, with reporting from Press Association
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