MOSCOW/KYIV: Russia warned Wednesday that attacks on its grain and agricultural infrastructure were worsening global food shortages and could drive food prices higher, as Moscow and Kyiv traded strikes on key ports and export facilities on both sides of the Black Sea.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Ukraine of seeking to disrupt the global food market after a wave of Ukrainian strikes on Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk killed three people, including a child, and forced major grain terminals to halt operations.
Zakharova said the attacks were exacerbating shortages of grain and fertilizers and increasing pressure on countries in the Global South and East.
Ukraine has this summer stepped up attacks on Russian economic infrastructure that it says supports Moscow’s war effort, including agricultural export facilities.
Hours after the Russian accusations, local Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces struck the Izmail port area in the southern Odesa region overnight, causing damage and fires.
