Full story
Novorossiysk hits and halts
A major Ukrainian attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk hit warships at a naval base and forced two major grain terminals to halt operations on Wednesday, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials as well as grain industry sources.
“Ukraine's SBU security service said Kyiv's forces hit the Novorossiysk naval base with drones and missiles.”
Reuters reported that the strikes killed at least two people, including an 8-year-old child, and that Ukraine’s SBU described the attack as having "strategic significance" with drones and missiles hitting the Novorossiysk naval base.
The Reuters account said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated that two frigates, a large landing ship, a corvette and other vessels were hit, while the attack also raised fears of disruption to global supplies because Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter.
In parallel, Ukrinform reported via Reuters that two of Russia’s biggest grain terminals at Novorossiysk suspended operations after overnight Ukrainian drone strikes, with one terminal having an export capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per year and NKHP having an export capacity of 7.1 million tonnes per year.
Reuters also said Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko stated the port suspended its water supply and declared an emergency after the strikes on Wednesday.
Competing claims and markets
Russia warned of fallout for global food security after the Novorossiysk strikes, with Maria Zakharova telling Saba that Kyiv’s attacks undermine global food security and disrupt the movement of agricultural shipments.
In the same Saba statement, Zakharova argued that the Kyiv regime intensified attacks throughout the summer using unmanned systems and intelligence provided by NATO and EU countries, and she said major agricultural shipments, including grain and sunflower oil, were targeted.
Reuters reported that Chicago wheat futures rose around 3% on Wednesday after the attack on Novorossiysk, while the Financial Post and other outlets tied the disruption to halted loading activity at the port.
The Financial Post said a state of emergency was declared in Novorossiysk on Telegram and that water supplies had been suspended, while Bloomberg-linked reporting described grain shipments as currently impossible because of serious damage to terminal infrastructure.
Reuters also said Russia’s agriculture ministry was working to redirect export flows to alternative routes, as Russia’s main grain lobby group warned last month that Ukrainian attacks could shut down Black Sea grain exports.
What comes next
The attack’s immediate operational impact was framed as a threat to grain export continuity, with Reuters saying the strikes forced two major grain terminals to halt operations and raised fears of disruption to global supplies.
“NKHP, another large grain terminal at Novorossiysk with an export capacity of 7.1 million tonnes per year, was also damaged”
Ukrinform, citing Reuters and industry sources, said the Novorossiysk grain terminal with an export capacity of 8.5 million tonnes per year suspended operations and that an assessment of the damage was underway, while NKHP with an export capacity of 7.1 million tonnes per year was also damaged and had halted operations.
Reuters added that the port suspended its water supply and declared an emergency after the strikes, and it said four enterprises, more than two dozen residential buildings and some educational facilities were damaged, according to Andrei Kravchenko.
In the broader diplomatic and logistics context, Reuters reported that Ukraine and Moldova agreed on Wednesday to a plan for routing Ukrainian grain shipments through Moldova by rail, and it said Ukraine and Moldova’s agreement came as Russia’s strikes on ships in the Black Sea had drastically reduced grain shipments from Ukraine.
Reuters also said Russia’s agriculture ministry was working to redirect export flows to alternative routes, while the same Reuters report noted that Novorossiysk hosts oil export infrastructure for the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and that the Financial Times reported Ukraine had halted strikes on tankers servicing the CPC after a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
