Russia struck Ukraine's port of Odesa with missiles and drones on Tuesday, a day after pulling out of a United Nations-backed deal to let Kyiv export grain, and Ukrainian officials said Moscow was attempting to go back on the offensive in the east.
Thomson ReutersA building damaged during a Russian strike is seen early Tuesday in Odesa. The attack on the Ukrainian port city came a day after a Crimean bridge was damaged.Russian attacks on Ukraine's ports followed a pledge by Moscow to retaliate for blasts on Russia's road bridge to the occupied Crimean peninsula, which was knocked out on Monday by what Moscow said were strikes by Ukrainian seaborne drones.
Ukraine's air force said six Kalibr missiles and 31 out of 36 drones were shot down, mostly over the coastal Odesa and Mykolaiv regions in the south. Ukrainian commanders said Russian forces were now attempting to return to the offensive north of Bakhmut in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, along a strip of the front line in territory recaptured by Ukraine last year.
Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's biggest exporters of grain and other foodstuffs. If Ukrainian grain is again blocked from the market, prices could soar around the world, hitting the poorest countries hardest.Russia says it could return to the grain deal, but only if its demands are met for rules to be eased for its own exports of food and fertilizer.
"We're talking about an area that's close to a war zone…. Without the appropriate security guarantees, certain risks arise there. So if something is formalized without Russia, these risks should be taken into account," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. "For two days running, the enemy has been actively on the offensive in the Kupiansk sector in Kharkiv region," Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar wrote on Telegram.
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