Russian bombing of Ukrainian port infrastructures is an attack against “world food security”, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said on Wednesday evening, after another night of Russian drone attacks targeting Ukrainian ports on the Danube.

Volodymyr ZelenskyiPhoto: Presidency of Ukraine/President of Ukraine / Zuma Press / Profimedia

“Every Russian attack on these ports will deal a blow to world food prices, social and political stability in Africa and Asia,” Zelenskyy said in his daily message on the progress of the war with Russia, which is broadcast every night on social networks, according to Agerpres.

On the other hand, he welcomed the departure of the first cargo ship from the Ukrainian port of Odesa after Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Initiative last month. That initiative allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through a safe corridor on the Black Sea, but Moscow refused to extend it, charging that a component of the agreement, which provided for the facilitation of Russian grain and fertilizer exports, indirectly hampered the impact of Western financial sanctions against Russia.

Since then, Russia has regularly bombed the infrastructure of Ukrainian ports to prevent Ukraine from exporting its products by sea. However, “Ukraine has just reached an important milestone in restoring freedom of navigation in the Black Sea,” after “the first civilian vessel sailed through Ukraine’s new humanitarian corridor,” Zelenskyy said in his message Wednesday night.

Following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Initiative, Ukraine announced the creation of a temporary shipping route through Romanian territorial waters to be able to continue exporting grain from Black Sea ports.

Russian attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure along the Danube show that Russian President Vladimir Putin “doesn’t care” about the supply of basic foodstuffs to developing countries, US diplomacy has reacted after the latest Russian attacks.

Last month, ahead of the Russia-Africa summit, Putin promised African countries to continue supplying Russian grain despite Western sanctions against Russia. The President of the Russian Federation also defended his decision not to extend the agreement that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, saying that it was used “only to enrich large American and European companies that exported and resold grain from Ukraine.”

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