C T Online Desk: Russia said Wednesday it would consider cargo ships travelling to Ukraine through the Black Sea potential military targets, following its decision to exit a landmark deal that permitted the export of grain from Ukraine.
Following a second night of strikes around the southern Ukrainian port of Odesa, President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain export infrastructure and putting vulnerable countries at risk.
Kyiv urged other countries in the Black Sea region to intervene to assure the safe passage of cargo ships.
The effective closure of the sea route used to export Ukrainian grain to North Africa and the Middle East reignited fears among Ukraine’s European neighbours of being flooded with cheap grain.
The Russian defence ministry said all vessels sailing to Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea will be regarded as potential carriers of military cargo and its flag states “will be considered to be involved in the Ukrainian conflict on the side of the Kyiv regime”.
The beginning of Moscow’s Ukraine campaign last year saw Black Sea ports blocked by warships until the agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
The Kremlin said it was exiting the deal Monday, after months of complaining that a related agreement allowing the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured.
Moscow also accused Ukraine of using the Black Sea grain corridor for “combat purposes”.
A senior United States security official told AFP on Wednesday that Russia is considering attacking civilian ships on the Black Sea and putting the blame on Kyiv.
National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge cited Russia’s release of a video showing its forces detecting and destroying an “alleged Ukrainian sea mine”.
“Our information indicates that Russia laid additional sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports,” he said, adding the allegation was based on newly declassified intelligence.
“We believe that this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine for these attacks.”
