At least two persons were in the early hours of Thursday killed, while about 23 were injured following Russia’s bombing of grain silos in Ukraine, a Kyiv official had disclosed.
The attack came as the third in a row and been described as a ‘barbarian’ act, putting food supplies at risk and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis, EU had stated.
The Black Sea port city of Odesa and nearby Mykolayiv was the target of the strike.
The three nights of air strikes in a row on Ukraine’s ports came after Moscow announced on Monday that it would withdraw from an agreement that allowed Ukraine’s grain to be shipped to global markets.
Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said they were “an attempt to destroy the ability to supply food to the countries of the global south”.
Moscow’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which has allowed 33 million tonnes of grain to be exported by sea since last August, and its announcement that it will treat any inbound vessels as military threats, have driven up global food prices.
Russia’s target of Ukraine’s grain silos sends shockwaves across the international community.
The attack on crucial food storage facilities is seen as a ruthless and ‘barbaric’ act, jeopardizing the already vulnerable food supplies in the region.
Ukraine’s grain production plays a vital role in feeding its population and exporting to other nations, and the destruction of these silos poses a significant threat to food security.
The attack is believed to increase the existing humanitarian crisis in the region, leaving thousands of people in dire need of essential sustenance.
