On Saturday, a series of explosions shook Ukraine's southern city of Odesa, striking one of the country's most vital ports less than 24 hours after Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement to safeguard the transportation of millions of tons of grain via Black Sea channels.
Before the deal could even be implemented, the strikes raised questions about Russia's commitment to it, which was mediated by the UN and Turkey.
Ukraine Warns Grain Export Deal Might Stall
Before the deal could even be implemented, the strikes raised questions about Russia's commitment to it, which was mediated by the UN and Turkey. The succession of explosions was also a sad reminder of Russia's violent fulcrum in the five-month-old war: Moscow's messages that it may rain havoc on any area of Ukraine at any time, regardless of the military situation on the front lines of diplomatic advances elsewhere. While they condemned the attack and branded Russia untrustworthy, Ukrainian authorities said they were still preparing as if the grain agreement would be implemented.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky told a delegation from the US House of Representatives that the strike proves only one thing: no matter what Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it. The United Nations secretary general's deputy spokesman condemned the strikes, saying that full implementation of the agreement was "imperative", according to New York Times.
Ukraine might export 60 million tons of grain in the next nine months, but it could take up to 24 months if port operations are hampered. The new development comes as the war approaches its sixth month, six months after Russia invaded its neighboring nation in February.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian soldiers killed and injured people in the country's south and east by shelling. Two people were murdered and two more were injured in the previous 24 hours, according to the governor of the eastern Donetsk province. The region is one of two in Ukraine's industrial heartland of the Donbas, on which Moscow has concentrated aggressively.
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Despite the new violence, the UK military stated on Sunday that Russia was making very minor headway in its Donbas offensive, which it said was limited to the city of Bakhmut in eastern Donetsk.
In daily reports, the Ukrainian military's General Staff reported that Russia was undertaking military operations to prepare for an attack on Bakhmut, while Russian forces were also shooting at surrounding communities and battling Ukrainian soldiers for control of a thermal plant. Regional officials in Ukraine's south acknowledged that at least five people were hurt by Russian munitions in Mykolaiv, a port on the Black Sea, late Saturday into Sunday morning, as per New York Post.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova stated on Face The Nation Sunday that Russian authorities are forcefully deporting persons, families, and children and hastening adoption proceedings to place them in Russian households.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken reported that Russia had questioned, imprisoned, and deported 900,000 to 1.6 million Ukrainian nationals, including 260,000 children, from their homes to Russia.
According to Ukraine's Ministry of Culture, Russia perpetrated more than 400 crimes against the cultural heritage of the nation during its invasion.
The ministry has documented the destruction and damage to culturally significant artifacts and venues such as religious structures, monuments and memorials, museums, libraries, and theaters, USA Today reported.
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