Russian officials insisted on Sunday that the country’s missile airstrike on the Ukrainian port of Odessa over the weekend – which came just hours after the two countries signed identical agreements with the UN to allow the resumption of grain exports – hit only military targets.
The port blockage created a global food crisis. Saturday’s strike was a “spit in the face” of Turkey and the United Nations, which brokered the deals, Ukraine’s foreign ministry said.
Ukraine’s military said on Saturday that Moscow attacked the port with four cruise missiles, two of which were shot down.
Command spokeswoman Nataliya Humenyuk said no grain storage facilities were hit in Odessa, but Russia’s two Kalibr cruise missiles hit port infrastructure and Ukrainian air defenses hit. shot down two others, the Ukrainian army’s southern command said.
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Latest developments:
►Russian missiles hit Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odessa just hours after Moscow and Kyiv signed deals to allow grain exports to resume from there.
► Russian diplomat Sergey Lavrov began the first leg of his trip across Africa to Egypt on Sunday, seeking to restore diplomatic relations and deflect blame on Russia for food shortages in the region.
►The State Department has confirmed that two US citizens suspected of fighting for Ukraine recently died in the Donbass region, ABC News reported.
►The United States is sending an additional $270 million in security aid to Ukraine, White House spokesman John Kirby said. The latest package includes Phoenix Ghost drones, medium-range rocket systems as well as ammo and armor-piercing systems.
Russia kidnaps and adopts Ukrainian children, says ambassador
Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova told ‘Face The Nation’ on Sunday that Russian forces are “forcibly deporting” adults, families and children and speeding up adoption processes to place them with families Russians.
“The Russians themselves have already admitted that 350,000 children were ‘evacuated’ as they say, but kidnapped,” Markarova said. “This is a brutal violation not only of international law, but of common decency. How can you steal our children and try to hide them somewhere in Russia?”
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken estimated that Russia had interrogated, detained and forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainian citizens, including 260,000 children, from their homes to Russia. .
Five months after the start of the war, what do we know?
Sunday marks five months since Russia invaded Ukraine. What Russian President Vladimir Putin once considered a quick victory has turned into a months-long effort as Ukrainian forces fend off heavy Russian artillery attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine.
While Western nations have condemned Putin’s invasion of its smaller neighbor, accusing Russia of war crimes and imposing several rounds of sanctions, Ukrainian forces are engaged in intense fighting in the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk as Russia aims to take control of the Donbass region.
From where Ukrainian territories are under Russian control, to a cut in US aid to Ukraine, read a breakdown of what we know about the war here.
– Sarah Elbeshbishi, USA TODAY
Grain export will take months, ex-minister says
It could take up to six months to ship grain stored in silos in Ukraine, if Russia does not interfere with the export, the former Ukrainian trade and agriculture minister said.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, the former minister, told Al Jazeera that Russia’s “calculation” is to slow Ukraine’s grain export.
“Currently, we can ship 2.5 million tons per month from the port of Odessa. So you have four months (to clear the backlog). If we are not disturbed and harassed, we could increase that to 5.5 million tons,” Mylovanov told the outlet.
Ministry: Russia has committed “crimes against Ukrainian cultural heritage”
Ukraine’s culture ministry reported this week that Russia committed more than 400 “crimes against the country’s cultural heritage” during its invasion.
The ministry has documented destruction and damage to objects and places of cultural significance, including religious sites, monuments and memorials, museums, libraries and theatres.
“All documents will be used as evidence in criminal proceedings against Russian criminals,” Kateryna Chuyeva, deputy minister of culture and information policy, said in a statement.
Contribute: The Associated Press
