In recent months, Russia has been deliberately attacking Ukraine’s port infrastructure and has already damaged or destroyed nearly 300 facilities.
This was reported in Telegram by Oleksii Kuleba, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister of Community and Territorial Development of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.
“The targets of enemy shelling are primarily ports, civilian vessels and granaries. Thus, over the past three months, the enemy has carried out almost 60 such attacks. They resulted in the damage and destruction of almost 300 port infrastructure facilities, 177 vehicles and 22 civilian vessels,” the statement said.
In addition, 79 civilians were injured, including port workers, logistics companies and ship crews.
It is noted that the purpose of these attacks is to reduce Ukraine’s export potential. It is a deliberate provocation of a food crisis in those parts of the world that are directly dependent on the supply of Ukrainian grain. This primarily affects the countries of the Global South and Europe. More than 40 countries currently receive Ukrainian grain, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands.
The Vice Prime Minister called on the international community to increase pressure on Russia, as silence and inaction only strengthen the enemy’s impunity.
As reported, two ships were hit by Russian ballistic missiles in the port of Odesa, one from Panama and the other from Palau. The attack on the port killed at least seven people and injured 11 others.