Russia warns ships in Black Sea, Ukraine to create temporary grains export route
Russia warned that ships sailing to Ukraine's Black Sea ports from Thursday will be seen as potential military targets, days after its withdrawal from a safe-passage deal that threatens to worsen global food supplies. Ukraine said on Wednesday it was establishing a temporary shipping route via Romania, one of the neighbouring Black Sea countries. «Its goal is to facilitate the unblocking of international shipping in the north-western part of the Black Sea,» Vasyl Shkurakov, Ukraine's acting minister for communities, territories and infrastructure development, said in a letter to U.N.
shipping agency, the International Shipping Organization. The year-old pact brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to provide safe passage for cargo ships from the war zone ended after Russia's withdrawal on Monday. The last ship left Ukraine on Sunday.
Ukraine and Russia are among the world's top grain exporters. U.S. wheat futures jumped 8.5% on Wednesday, their biggest daily gain since days after Russia's Feb.
24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. Russia's Defence Ministry said flag states of ships travelling to Ukrainian ports would be considered parties to the conflict on the Ukrainian side from midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT on Wednesday). Russia attacked the Odesa region on Monday and Tuesday nights.
Grains terminals and an industrial facility, warehouses, shopping malls, residential and administrative buildings and cars were damaged on Tuesday night, Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine's southern military command said Russia had used supersonic missiles, including the Kh-22 that was designed to take out aircraft carriers, to hit Odesa's port infrastructure. The Odesa region's three ports were the only ones operating in Ukraine during the
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