Russia's Black Sea Fleet exercises live ammunition after grain deal ends

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Maneuvers in the Black Sea with live ammunition: screenshot of a video circulated by the Russian Ministry of Defense

Photo: HANDOUT / AFP

After the end of the grain deal with Ukraine, Russia says it has held a naval exercise with live ammunition in the Black Sea. The Black Sea Fleet fired at and destroyed a target ship with anti-ship missiles in the northwest of the sea, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow said on Friday.

According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian army also shelled the port city of Odessa again, destroying silos with barley and peas.

Commenting on the Black Sea naval exercise, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Telegram that the ships and naval aircraft had also taken measures to "seal off the area temporarily closed to shipping" and rehearsed the detention of an attacking ship.

Russia announced on Wednesday after the grain deal expired that it would classify all ships in the Black Sea bound for Ukraine as ships "carrying potentially military cargo" from Thursday.

The U.S. government warned on Thursday that Russia could expand its attacks to civilian ships in the Black Sea after withdrawing from the international grain deal and then blame them on Ukraine. "Our information indicates that Russia has laid more sea mines in the approaches to Ukrainian ports," said National Security Council communications director John Kirby. "And yesterday we observed that Russia released a video of the discovery and detonation of what they claimed to be a Ukrainian sea mine." It is possible that this video could be a "harbinger" of a false flag attack.

UN condemns threats against grain carriers

The UN criticized the threats against civilian ships in the Black Sea on Friday as "unacceptable". The Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, also expressed concern at the UN Security Council in New York about possible mines in the Black Sea that "endanger civilian shipping".

The spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Stéphane Dujarric, expressed concern about the "negative impact on world prices for wheat and maize, which is affecting everyone, especially vulnerable populations in the countries of the South".

"We understand the concerns of our African friends, this is understandable and will be taken into account," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Verchinin.

According to Ukrainian regional governor Oleg Kiper, the attacks on the Black Sea city of Odessa for the fourth night in a row targeted grain silos of Kalibr cruise missiles in particular. 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley were destroyed.

Since the expiry of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain on Monday, Russia had repeatedly attacked the port cities of Odessa and Mykolaiv, according to Ukrainian sources. Russia had said that military targets had been targeted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan nevertheless expressed confidence that he would be able to convince Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to reopen the grain agreement. He thinks that he can achieve a continuation of grain exports "in detailed" talks with Putin, Erdoğan said, according to the Anadolu news agency.

You can read an analysis of the chances for the diplomatic venture here: Can Erdoğan save the grain deal?

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday evening that he had spoken on the phone with Erdoğan to "coordinate efforts to resume exports under the grain deal."

Now also attacks on the north of Ukraine

The grain agreement was agreed in July 2022 with the mediation of the UN and Turkey. The agreement allowed Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea despite the war. Since its entry into force, almost 33 million tons of grain have been exported from Ukrainian ports.

Unesco condemned the Russian attacks on the old town of Odessa, which is a World Heritage Site. According to initial findings, several museums in the historic center of Odessa were damaged in the attacks on Thursday night, said the UN cultural organization in Paris.

In addition to Odessa in the south, Russia also attacked the east and north of Ukraine on Friday, according to Ukrainian sources. In the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, according to Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, a couple in the city of Kostyantynivka and a pair of siblings in the village of Druzhba were killed. A man and a woman were killed in a Russian attack in the northern Ukrainian region of Chernihiv, according to Governor Vyacheslav Chus.

Bulgaria sends armored vehicles

According to US sources, Ukraine is now using the controversial cluster munitions supplied by Washington in its counteroffensive to recapture Russian-occupied territories. The Armed Forces of Ukraine have been using the ammunition "for about a week" and are using it "appropriately and effectively," said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Meanwhile, a good two weeks after a visit by the Ukrainian president, Bulgaria decided to give Ukraine a hundred Soviet-made BTR armored vehicles that had been purchased in the eighties and never used. On Friday, the parliament voted by a large majority in favour of a corresponding proposal by the new pro-European government. The previous transitional governments with historically close ties to Moscow had so far rejected direct military aid to Kyiv.

oka/AFP