Russia attacks Black Sea cities
Russia has unleashed a third night of attacks against Ukraine’s port cities on the Black Sea, with at least 23 people injured. Thursday’s early morning strikes on Odesa and nearby Mykolayiv came hours after Moscow warned that all ships bound for these ports would be considered “potential carriers of military cargo”. Earlier this week, Russia withdrew from a UN-brokered deal allowing Ukrainian grain exports, raising fears that food prices could rise across the world. Ukraine says that strikes on Wednesday in Chornomorsk, just south of Odesa, destroyed 60,000 tonnes of grain about to be loaded onto ships – enough to feed 270,000 people for a year, according to the World Food Program. Wheat prices on the European stock exchange rose 8 per cent on Wednesday from the previous day, while corn prices were up 5.4 per cent.
Photograph State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Pavlo Petrov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images