Russia launched more air strikes on southern Ukraine and warned against any attempt to ship grain from the region under international military escort, as investigators in Moscow detained a prominent Russian militant who has criticised the Kremlin’s handling of the war.
Officials in Odesa region on the Black Sea said it was targeted by Russian missiles for a fourth consecutive night on Thursday, and again during the day on Friday, injuring at least two people, damaging agricultural storage facilities and destroying about 100 tonnes of peas and 20 tonnes of barley.
Tens of thousands of tonnes of grain were destroyed and port facilities damaged this week by Russian rocket and drone strikes on Odesa and nearby Mykolaiv that also killed several people and injured dozens, following Moscow’s withdrawal from a deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain via the Black Sea.
The United Nations and Western states have condemned the attacks on the ports, but Russia describes them as retaliation for an explosion on Monday that damaged the main bridge linking Russia and occupied Crimea, which it claims was carried out by Kyiv’s forces using marine drones.
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Ukraine has urged the international community to ensure its grain exports continue, to reduce the risk of hunger and prevent food price rises, but both Moscow and Kyiv have said they will now regard ships using each other’s ports on the Black Sea as potential carriers of military cargo to the enemy.
Amid suggestions from some quarters that Turkey might be willing to provide a naval escort for cargo ships in the region, Moscow warned against any such initiative on Friday.
“We have not discussed these issues. I think this option is dangerous and unworkable,” said Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Vershinin.
“We have very close interactions with Turkey ... We are also in contact with them now and are exchanging [proposals] about what to do in the current situation,” he added, while reiterating that Russia was ready to supply grain to states that could no longer source it in Ukraine.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that the end of the grain deal would have “a series of consequences, ranging from the increase in global food prices to scarcity in certain regions and, potentially, leading to new waves of migration.”
[ Putin accuses West over expired grain dealOpens in new window ]
“I believe that by thoroughly discussing the matter with [Vladimir] Putin, we can ensure the continuation of this humanitarian effort,” he added.
One of the most outspoken critics in Russia of the way Mr Putin has led the invasion that he launched 17 months ago has been Igor Girkin, who under his nom-de-guerre “Strelkov” was a leader of Moscow-led militants who seized parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Girkin was detained at his Moscow apartment on Friday on suspicion of promoting extremism, days after he used his Telegram social media channel – where he has more than 870,000 followers – to call Mr Putin “a nonentity” and “a cowardly mediocrity” who should hand over power to “someone truly capable and responsible”.
It comes a month after the Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin launched a short mutiny, seized the southern Russian city of Rostov and shot down several military aircraft, killing their crews, and yet faced no legal consequences.
