Russia attacks the port of Odesa with rockets to prevent the departure of grain

Faced with the possibility that Ukraine may decide to continue exporting grain outside of Russia, the dilemma facing the Kremlin — to allow it and appear weak, or to attack cargo ships and escalate the conflict — appears to have been resolved by destroying port terminals from which ships carrying grain depart. And that’s it, for the second day in a row, On Wednesday, Russian forces massively shelled the city of Odesa, especially the ports.

Local authorities reported hits on warehouses and grain terminals by Onix and X-22 missiles, causing a large fire. The head of the city’s military administration, Sergui Bratchuk, described the attack as “hellish (…) very powerful, truly massive.”

According to Ukrainian media, “industrial targets” were also attacked, and fragments of rockets shot down by anti-aircraft defenses fell on points in and around Odesa, causing varying degrees of damage to buildings and two warehouses, one for tobacco and the other for fireworks. One is counted a dozen injured, including a 9-year-old boy.

The attacks have spread to other parts of Ukraine, including Kiev, according to the local air force. The same source said that air defenses managed to shoot down 37 out of 63 enemy aircraft in the southern Odesa region, including 23 drones and 14 cruise missiles targeting critical infrastructure and military installations.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed the bombings with “high-precision missiles” against “industrial, military facilities, fuel infrastructure and ammunition depots of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

significant damage

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned that “Russian terrorists deliberately targeted infrastructure related to the grain agreement”. The Kyiv government condemned the serious damage to “grain terminals and port infrastructure in Odesa and Chernomorsk that affected warehouses and loading docks.” According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture, 60,000 tons of grain burned in Chernomorsk.

The chief prosecutor of Ukraine described the raid as the “biggest” so far on the Odesa port facilities and assured that there were ten wounded, a figure that the head of the Military Administration, Oleg Kiper, raised to twelve.

Russia on Monday refused to continue extending a grain export agreement signed in July 2022 brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, saying it did not meet Moscow’s request to lift barriers to Russian grain and fertilizer exports. The Kremlin further claimed that Ukraine was exploiting maritime grain transport corridors to attack the port of Sevastopol, located on the Crimean peninsula and where the Russian Black Sea fleet is anchored, with waterborne drones.

The Russian Ministry of Defense warned in a statement that “from 00:00 on July 20, all ships sailing through the Black Sea to Ukrainian ports will be considered as possible transport of military cargo.”

Putin will not travel to the BRICS summit to avoid an arrest warrant

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed yesterday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will not attend the BRICS summit in August, after months of controversy surrounding the international arrest warrant for the Russian president.

“According to the mutual agreement, the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, will not attend the summit, but the country will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov,” the South African presidency said in a statement.

South Africa, which will host the August 22-24 BRICS summit in Johannesburg, found itself in the spotlight after it confirmed in March an invitation to the Russian president to attend the meetings, despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

As a member state of the ICC, South Africa is required to cooperate in Putin’s arrest, but the country has so far avoided revealing how it would act if the Russian president landed on its territory. However, Ramaphosa refused to arrest his Russian counterpart as it would amount to a “declaration of war” against Russia, the Gauteng High Court said on Tuesday, which published the president’s statement.

“It would be against our constitution to risk going to war with Russia,” Ramaphosa said in response to a lawsuit filed by South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, seeking a “declaratory order” guaranteeing Putin’s arrest. South Africa claims to have taken a neutral position on Russia’s war against Ukraine, and has called for dialogue and diplomacy.