Anger at ‘ barbarism’ of Putin’s Odesa onslaught
VOLODYMYR Zelensky condemned Russian ‘barbarism’ after Moscow bombed Odesa hours after agreeing to resume grain exports from the port city.
The Ukrainian president said Saturday’s air strikes ‘destroyed the very possibility’ of dialogue with Moscow.
Russia claimed the ‘ high-precision, long-range missiles’ hit military targets and not grain storage units. It said they struck a docked Ukrainian warship and a warehouse with US-supplied Harpoon anti-warship missiles inside.
While grain- loading was not affected, the missiles came close to hitting silos and threw the landmark deal into jeopardy.
Mr Zelensky said: ‘This apparent Russian barbarism brings us even closer to obtaining the very weapons we need for our victory.’
The attack was widely condemned, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing Russia of worsening a global food crisis. He added: ‘ The United States strongly condemns Russia’s attack on the port of Odesa.
‘It undermines the effort to bring food to the hungry and the credibility of Russia’s commitments to the deal finalised yesterday to allow Ukrainian exports.’ UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he ‘unequivocally condemns’ the strike.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was yesterday forced to reassure African leaders that their orders for grain would be met.
It came as Kyiv made ground in its counter-offensive in the occupied region of Kherson. Mr Zelensky said troops were advancing ‘step by step’, and the British Ministry of Defence said Russian supply lines were ‘increasingly at risk’.
The Ukrainian army, which has become emboldened now Western supplies of long-range artillery have started arriving, is blowing up bridges to stretch the invaders.