Tensions ratcheted up in the Black Sea on Friday as Russia carried out live fire exercises and again struck granaries in the port city of Odesa, extending its campaign to keep Ukraine from shipping grain and raising fears about the effect on the global food supply.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to convene as the fallout spreads from Russia’s decision this week to unilaterally withdraw from a multinational deal that had allowed Ukraine to export grain to world markets through the Black Sea and the ports of Odesa.
Moscow has also warned that any ships sailing to Ukraine’s ports would be considered potentially hostile, raising concerns that it could attack civilian ships and send grain prices soaring. On Friday, Russia’s defence ministry said that the crew of a missile boat had carried out combat training in the northwestern Black Sea, firing anti-ship cruise missiles and destroying a “mock target” vessel.
Russia fired missiles for the fourth straight day on Odesa, home to Ukraine’s busiest ports, injuring two people and destroying 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley, according to Oleg Kiper, the head of the regional military administration.
The Russian defence ministry said on Friday that its naval forces had practised firing anti-ship cruise missiles in the Black Sea, a drill it described as routine but one that came amid escalating concerns about threats to vessels in the waterway.
In a statement, the ministry said that the crew of the Ivanovets, a guided missile ship, “carried out live firing of anti-ship cruise missiles”, destroying a mock ship “at a combat training range” in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.
New York Times News Service
Hardliner detained
Moscow: A prominent Russian hardliner who accused President Vladimir Putin of weakness and indecision in Ukraine was detained on Friday on charges of extremism, a signal the Kremlin has toughened its approach with hawkish critics after last month’s abortive rebellion by the Wagner mercenary company.
Igor Strelkov, a retired security officer who led separatists in Ukraine in 2014, has argued that a total mobilisation is needed for Russia to achieve victory and recently criticised Putin as a “non-entity”.
AP/PTI
