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Novorossiysk hit
Ukraine launched a major overnight drone and missile strike on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, hitting warships at a naval base and forcing two major grain terminals to halt operations on Wednesday, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials and grain industry sources.
“forced two major grain terminals to halt operations on Wednesday”
Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the attack killed at least two people, including an 8-year-old child, and Ukraine’s SBU said Kyiv’s forces struck the Novorossiysk naval base with drones and missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two frigates, a large landing ship, a corvette and other vessels were hit, while Reuters reported that the strikes raised fears of a disruption to global supplies because Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter.
The BBC reported that a “massive” Ukrainian drone and missile strike damaged two major grain export terminals and hit the last big Russian naval base on the Black Sea, with three people including an eight-year-old killed and another 24 injured, as local officials said.
Russia’s agriculture ministry said it was working to redirect export flows to alternative routes, and the BBC said an emergency situation was declared in the city after the barrage of drones struck areas around the port and damaged pipelines, suspending water supply for Novorossiysk.
Competing claims
Zelenskyy described the operation as a “unique operation” to strike Russian fleet vessels in the bay area of the city, while the BBC said he did not mention grain terminals being hit.
In a post on social media, Zelenskyy warned, "The occupying fleet and all the infrastructure that supports it will not be safe as long as Russian aggression continues," as the BBC tied the attack to an uptick in the exchange of strikes in the Black Sea this summer.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of seeking to “provoke chaos” on the global food market, saying it serves the interests of several Western countries, according to CNBC.
The CNBC report also said Russia was seeking to redirect cargo flows to ports in the Baltic and Caspian Seas as well as land routes, while the BBC reported that a major grain trading company confirmed to Russia's TASS news agency that its terminal had been hit and another told Reuters and Russian outlet RBK the same.
Separately, the Al Jazeera report said the attack killed three people and put two major grain terminals out of action, and it quoted Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko saying the port suspended its water supply and declared an emergency after the strikes on Wednesday.
Food-market stakes
The Reuters report said the strikes on the grain terminals raised fears of a disruption to global supplies, and it noted that Chicago wheat futures rose around 3% on Wednesday after the attack on Novorossiysk.
“Shipments tumbled 76% in the first two weeks of August”
Russia’s main grain lobby group warned last month that Ukrainian attacks could shut down Black Sea grain exports, pushing up prices and causing hunger in Africa and the Middle East, and Reuters said the Russian agriculture ministry was working to redirect export flows to alternative routes.
The BBC reported that Russia’s agriculture ministry announced it was working to redirect cargo flows to ports in the Baltic and Caspian Seas as well as land routes and that it was “taking into account current logistical constraints,” while also describing how the emergency in Novorossiysk followed damage to pipelines.
Reuters also said shipments tumbled 76% in the first two weeks of August from a year earlier, and it reported that Ukraine and Moldova agreed on a plan for routing Ukrainian grain shipments through Moldova by rail.
In the Al Jazeera account, Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko said four enterprises, more than two dozen residential buildings and some educational facilities were damaged, and it quoted the Ukrainian SBU describing the attack as having “strategic significance” after drones and missiles hit the Novorossiysk naval base.
