Ukraine war: Russia halts grain deal after ‘massive’ Black Sea Fleet attack

Russia has said that it will no longer take part in the international agreement, which permits Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports. The accusation that Ukraine had launched a “massive” drone attack on the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea, came hours earlier.

The foreign minister of Ukraine claimed that Russia was “using a false pretext.” Russia also accused British troops of taking part in the attack on Saturday and the blowing up of gas pipelines last month without offering any supporting evidence. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) responded by claiming that Russia was “peddling false accusations of an epic scale.”

Drones deployed in the attack on Saturday, according to the Russian defence ministry, targeted ships involved in the grain exchange. One vessel, according to the report, experienced minimal damage.

The Russian side is unable to guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships taking part in the “Black Sea Initiative” and suspends its execution as of today for an extended period, according to a statement released by the Russian foreign ministry hours later.

The move, according to the statement, was “related to operations by the Ukrainian military forces, which were led by British specialists,” and these actions “were intended… against Russian ships that ensured the running of the abovementioned humanitarian corridor.”

However, Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, claimed that Russia was obstructing the grain corridor under “a bogus pretext.” He claimed that Ukraine had “warned of Russian’s attempts to destroy” the agreement. The UN, which mediated the agreement with Turkey, was in contact with Moscow, according to a UN spokeswoman.

It went on to say that it was “essential that all parties refrain from any action that would threaten the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” which it described as a crucial humanitarian initiative aimed at enhancing access to food for millions of people worldwide.

The accord made it possible for Ukraine to resume grain exports to the Black Sea, which had been halted after Russia invaded the nation.

The UN secretary general personally negotiated it, and it was hailed as a significant diplomatic triumph that lessened a severe world food crisis.

But Russia has protested that the arrangement may not be renewed because its own exports are still being hampered.

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