Russia attacked the southern city of Odesa's port infrastructure with a ballistic missile on Oct. 14, killing one person and injuring eight others, Governor Oleh Kiper reported.
The attack damaged two civilian vessels — NS Moon flying the flag of Belize and the Palau-flagged Optima, Kiper said. Russia targeted the latter ship last week on Oct. 7.
In recent days, Russia stepped up its attacks against port infrastructure in Odesa Oblast, damaging several civilian ships.
"The purpose of these attacks is to reduce our export potential," said Oleksii Kuleba, the minister for the development of communities, territories, and infrastructure, last week on Telegram.
"This is a deliberate attempt to provoke a food crisis in those parts of the world that are directly dependent on Ukrainian grain supplies."
A grain warehouse, cargo cranes, and machinery were also damaged in today's missile attack on Odesa, according to Kuleba. The victims are Ukrainian port employees.
Over the past three months, Russia has carried out nearly 60 such attacks, damaging or destroying nearly 300 port infrastructure facilities and 22 civilian vessels, Kuleba said on Oct. 10.
Over 80 civilians were killed or injured as a result of these strikes.
Kyiv set up a new export route in the Black Sea last year after Russia unilaterally terminated the Black Sea grain deal. Initially envisioned as a humanitarian corridor to allow the departure of ships stranded there since the start of the full-scale war, it has since grown into a full-blown trade route.
Traveling along the route, Ukrainian ships are regularly at risk of being attacked by Russia. Since the beginning of the all-out war, mines have also been drifting along the trade route, posing further risks to maritime transport.
Dmytro Basmat
