Explosions have rocked a key Ukrainian port just a day after Kyiv and Moscow reached a landmark deal to allow the resumption of grain exports.

Two missiles hit the city of Odesa in the early hours of Saturday morning, Ukraine’s military disclosed. Under the terms of Friday’s (July 22, 2022) deal, Russia agreed not to target ports while grain shipments are in transit. Turkey’s Defence Minister, Hulusai Akar, said Russian officials denied carrying out the strikes.

“In our contact with Russia, the Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack, and that they were examining the issue very closely and in detail,” Akar noted in a short statement. European Union (EU) Foreign Affairs Chief, Josep Borrell, said the attack showed Russia’s “total disregard” for international law. “Striking a target crucial for grain export a day after the signature of Istanbul agreements is particularly reprehensible,” he tweeted, adding that the EU “strongly condemns” the attack.

Comments by the UN and Other Officials

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, also condemned the attack, saying that full implementation of the grain deal made between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey was imperative. “These products are desperately needed to address the global food crisis and ease the suffering of millions of people in need around the globe,” a UN Spokesperson added.

In a post to social media, the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command Centre said two Kalibr missiles hit the port, while two more were shot down by air defence systems. Oleksiy Honcharenko, a local MP, wrote on Telegram that the city’s port caught fire after the strike. “These scumbags sign contracts with one hand and direct missiles with the other,” Mr Honcharenko wrote.

But a Spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s Southern Command, Nataliia Humeniuk, said the strike did not have any serious impact of the port. “No significant damage was caused to the port infrastructure. These are quite expensive rockets, so they are being used not too often. They are said to be highly accurate, so they hit deliberately.”

Content of the Russi-Ukraine Agreement

On Friday, July 22, 2022, Officials from Kyiv and Moscow signed a deal to allow millions of tonnes of grain trapped in Ukraine to be exported. The agreement was hailed as a “beacon of hope” by the UN after months of fighting. The deal, which took two months to reach, is set to last for 120 days, with a co-ordination and monitoring centre to be established in Istanbul, staffed by UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials. It can be renewed if both parties (Russia and Ukraine) agree.

In the latest fighting on the ground, British Defence Officials said Russian troops in the Kherson region risked being cut off from their supply lines by Ukrainian forces. Already, a large counteroffensive has been launched by Kyiv in the South of the country and its forces used new long-range US supplied missile systems to target the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson. Should the bridge be destroyed, Russian supply lines would be severely stretched.