War in Ukraine: grain exports “impossible” because of the Russian blockade

Europe 1 with AFP 3:32 p.m., October 30, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL

Cereal exports from Ukrainian ports are once again "impossible" due to the Russian blockade, the day after Moscow suspended the agreement on their delivery, the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure said on Sunday.

According to Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, a ship loaded with 40 tons of grain should have left Ukraine on Sunday for Ethiopia, "but because of the blockade of the grain corridor by Russia, exports are impossible", he said. stated on Twitter.

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This decision “endangers the main export route for cereals and fertilizers which we need to respond to the world food crisis caused by the war” in Ukraine, insisted the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell on Twitter.

Information to remember:

• For Moscow, the drones which attacked in Crimea took the secure corridor dedicated to the transport of cereals

• The blocking of cereal exports worries internationally, a risk of famine is mentioned

A risk of starvation

The transport of Ukrainian cereals was blocked on Sunday in the Black Sea after Russia suspended the agreement on their exports, vital for the world food supply, a decision castigated by kyiv, Washington and the EU.

Moscow assured that this decision was taken after a drone attack on these ships in Crimea, but Ukraine denounced "a false pretext" and called for pressure so that Russia "recommits to respect its obligations "for this agreement concluded in July under the aegis of the UN and Turkey, the only one between Moscow and kyiv since the beginning of the conflict.

The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) responsible for overseeing this agreement confirmed that no cargo movement had been validated for the day on Sunday.

Nine cargo ships were able to use the maritime corridor in the Black Sea on Saturday and "more than ten others" are ready to do the same in both directions. 

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that the Russian decision "in fact did not date from today".

"Russia began to aggravate the global food shortage in September, when it began to block the movements of ships carrying our agricultural products," he said.

“This is a transparent Russian intention to raise the specter of large-scale famine once again in Africa and Asia,” he added, calling for a “vigorous international response.”

According to him, at least 176 ships carrying more than two million tons of grain were already blocked by Moscow.

US President Joe Biden called the decision "outrageous".

"There was no reason for them to do this," he told reporters.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Russia is "again using food as a weapon", exacerbating "already serious humanitarian crises and food insecurity" in the world.

The EU urged Russia to "reverse its decision", which "endangers the main export route for cereals and fertilizers which are needed to respond to the world food crisis caused by the war".

Russia assures that the drones would have taken the corridor dedicated to the transport of cereals

Russia said on Sunday it had recovered debris from the drones used to attack its fleet the day before in Sevastopol in Crimea, assuring that these drones had used the secure corridor reserved for the transport of cereals and that one of them could have been launched since. "a civilian ship".

"The maritime drones were moving in the 'grain corridor' security zone," the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that it had "raised" drone debris from the sea.

Russia on Saturday suspended the deal on grain exports from Ukrainian ports, vital to the world's food supply, after a drone attack in annexed Crimea, which Moscow blamed on Ukraine and Britain.

Faced with these accusations, the British Defense reacted by denouncing "false information" intended to "divert attention", while a Ukrainian official suggested that "negligent handling of explosives" by Russian forces was at the origin of the incident.

The grain agreement had allowed the export of several million tonnes of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports since the start of the conflict in February.

This blockage had caused food prices to soar, raising fears of famine.

Russian authorities say the attack took place in the early hours of Saturday morning with "nine unmanned aerial vehicles and seven autonomous maritime drones", causing "minor damage" to a minesweeping vessel and the bay's containment boom of Sevastopol.

Some of the drones had "navigation modules made in Canada", the Russian Defense Ministry added on Sunday.

One of them could have been launched "from one of the civilian ships chartered by kyiv or its Western masters for the export of agricultural products from the seaports of Ukraine", he judged.