War in Ukraine, day 150 | Injured in strikes on Odessa, Moscow rejects charges

(Kyiv) Russian strikes hit the port of Odessa on Saturday, Ukraine assured, accusing Vladimir Putin of having “spit in the face” of the UN and Turkey and of compromising the application of the agreement signed the day before on the resumption of grain exports blocked by the war.

Without reacting directly, Moscow denied any involvement in these strikes to Ankara.

Earlier, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuri Ignat told AFP that Russian missiles hit a grain processing plant in the port of Odessa on Saturday.

“The port of Odessa, where grain is processed for shipment, was bombed. We shot down two missiles, and two more missiles hit the territory of the port, where, obviously, there is grain,” a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force said.

“A few people are injured,” said the governor of the region, Maksym Marchenko, without specifying how many and referring to “damaged port infrastructure”.

The major port of Odessa is crucial for the resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.

“A serious doubt” on the Russian commitment

With these strikes, the Russian head of state “spit in the face of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep (Tayyip) Erdogan, who have made enormous efforts to reach this agreement”, said commented the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

President Volodymyr Zelensky then accused Moscow of systematically violating its commitments: “This only proves one thing: whatever Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it”.

Antonio Guterres for his part condemned “unequivocally” these attacks, stressing that “full implementation” of the agreement “is imperative”.

“Hitting a crucial grain export target one day after the signing of the Istanbul Accords is particularly reprehensible and once again demonstrates Russia’s utter disregard for international law and commitments,” he said. the head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrell.

“This attack casts serious doubt on the credibility of Russia’s commitment to yesterday’s agreement and undermines the work of the UN, Turkey and Ukraine to deliver food to global markets,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

While for the head of British diplomacy, Liz Truss, “it shows that we cannot trust a word of what Mr. Putin says.

Russia, however, denied to Turkey that it had any responsibility for this new violence: “The Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack and that they were examining the question very closely”, a assured Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar.

Strikes in the center, south and northeast

Central Ukraine was not spared either with a resumption on Saturday of Russian bombardments which left three dead.

Thirteen cruise missiles fired from the sea fell near the town of Kropyvnytskyi, in the Kirovograd region (center), announced its governor Andriy Raikovych, adding that railway infrastructure and a military airfield had been targeted.

Artillery fire also targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, in the northeast, where a woman was injured, according to the Ukrainian presidency.

A man was also killed in a bombardment in the Sumy region, northwest of Kharkiv.

Two other people, including a teenager, were injured in strikes on Mikolaiv, the largest city under Ukrainian control, near Russian-occupied Kherson, and elsewhere on the southern front.

However, “the Ukrainian army, step by step, is advancing in the Kherson region,” President Zelensky said in the evening.

Before the announcement of the missile launches on Odessa, the African Union on Saturday “welcomed” the agreement on grain exports, hailing a “welcome” event for the continent which faces an increased risk of famine .

The agreement should make it possible to export 20 to 25 million tonnes of grain blocked in Ukraine.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia – two countries which notably provide 30% of world wheat exports – has led to a surge in the price of cereals and oils, hitting hard the African continent very dependent on the two belligerents for its supply. .

This has worsened the situation for countries already facing a food crisis, particularly in the Horn of Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti) which is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years.

“Responsibility of the UN”

The signing of this fiercely negotiated text under the auspices of the United Nations and Ankara took place in Istanbul.

The conditions are met for its application “in the coming days”, assured Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu shortly after.

Washington, which supports Ukraine, has made Moscow responsible for the success of the operation. “It is now up to Russia to concretely implement this agreement,” warned American diplomacy.

As of Friday evening, Ukraine had been circumspect.

It is now “the responsibility of the UN” to ensure compliance with the agreement, Mr. Zelensky said, saying he expected “provocations, attempts to discredit Ukrainian and international efforts”.

“The agreement fully corresponds to the interests of Ukraine”, he however welcomed, adding that the Ukrainian military would continue to control “100% all access to the ports”, which Russia initially demanded the demining.

Secure corridors

The main measure is the establishment of “secure corridors” in order to allow the movement in the Black Sea of ​​merchant ships, which Moscow and Kyiv undertake “not to attack”, explained a United Nations official.

It will be valid for “120 days”, the time to take out the millions of tons accumulated in the silos of Ukraine while a new harvest approaches.

The negotiators, however, gave up on clearing the Black Sea of ​​mines – mainly laid by the Ukrainians to protect their coasts.

As for the inspections of ships departing from and heading to Ukraine, demanded by Russia to prevent them from being used to bring weapons, they will take place in the ports of Istanbul.

Moscow also obtained a guarantee that Western sanctions would not apply, either directly or indirectly, to Russian fertilizer and grain exports.