Blasts rock Ukrainian port day after grain deal

• The city of Odesa was hit by two missiles in the early hours of Saturday morning.
• Explosions rocked a key Ukrainian port just a day after Kiev and Moscow reached an agreement on grain exports.
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• Russia agreed not to target ports while shipments are in transit under Friday’s agreement.

Explosions rocked a key Ukrainian port just a day after Kiev and Moscow reached a landmark agreement to allow grain exports to resume.

The city of Odesa was hit by two missiles in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to Ukraine’s military.

Russia agreed not to target ports while grain shipments are in transit under the terms of Friday’s agreement.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, said the attack demonstrated Russia’s “complete 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.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned the attack, saying that the grain deal struck by Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey must be fully implemented.

“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.

Ukraine’s air force chief blamed Russia, saying grain stores at the port had been deliberately targeted.

The Ukrainian military’s southern command centre said on social media that two Kalibr missiles had hit the port, while two more had been shot down by air defence systems.

A local MP, Oleksiy Honcharenko, posted on Telegram that the city’s port had caught fire following the strike.

“These scumbags sign contracts with one hand and direct missiles with the other,” Mr Honcharenko wrote.

It is unknown whether there were casualties or significant damage.

On Friday, officials from Kyiv and Moscow signed an agreement to allow the export of millions of tonnes of grain trapped in Ukraine.

After months of fighting, the UN hailed the agreement as a “beacon of hope.”

The agreement, which took two months to reach, will last for 120 days, with a co-ordination and monitoring centre in Istanbul staffed by UN, Turkish, Russian, and Ukrainian officials. If both parties agree, it can be renewed.

According to British defence officials, Russian troops in the Kherson region risk being cut off from supply lines by Ukrainian forces in the latest fighting on the ground.

Kyiv has launched a large counteroffensive in the country’s south, and its forces have used new long-range US-supplied missile systems to target the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson.

Russian supply lines would be severely strained if the bridge were destroyed.

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