Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian city Odesa with airstrikes Tuesday, retaliating for Ukraine’s attack on the critical Crimean bridge that connects the Ukrainian peninsula Russia annexed in 2014 to Russia’s mainland.
The Kremlin says it struck fuel storage, and reports say that the “debris and blast waves damaged several homes and unspecified port infrastructure in one of Ukraine’s main ports,” according to Reuters.
Also following the Ukrainian strike, Russia called off the Ukraine grain deal, claiming the deal inequitably benefits Ukraine and that it will only agree to it if “its demands to loosen sanctions on its own agricultural exports were met,” The New York Times reports.
What is the Black Sea Grain Initiative?
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered in 2022 by the United Nations and Turkey to address a global food crisis that struck after Russia invaded Ukraine. “Russia had blockaded Ukrainian ports, blocking ships from carrying its grain and sending global prices soaring to record highs,” per the Times.
Under the agreement, it “oversaw the transport of 725,167 tons of wheat to sail on World Food Program ships to some of the world’s most food insecure countries, such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen,” CNBC reported.
“This is what it looks like when one country decides to hold humanity hostage. The bottom line is this: The world needs the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield said during remarks before a U.N. Security Council meeting, per CNBC. “And all Member States must come together and urge Russia to reverse its decision; resume negotiations; extend, expand and fully implement this initiative.”
According to Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential staff, Russia’s attacks offer “further proof that the country-terrorist wants to endanger the lives of the 400 million people in various countries that depend on Ukrainian food exports,” per Reuters.
The deal has been extended twice, while “Russia has regularly claimed that it did not receive the fully pledged benefit from the deal,” CNN reported.
What happened with Ukraine drone strike on Crimean bridge?
The drone strikes on the Crimean bridge damaged a section of the bridge, upending main routes for vehicle traffic. The area is a popular vacation destination for Russian tourists, and Russia is pleading with tourists not to cancel travel plans following the strike.
To get to the peninsula without taking the bridge, Russian travelers would have to drive through areas devastated by the war — Mariupol and Melitopol — which are also areas that are “regularly subject to long-range Ukrainian missile strikes,” per CNN.