Russia halts UN-brokered deal to allow grain shipments from Ukraine

Russia halted its participation in a UN-brokered deal to allow grain shipments from Ukraine after Russian officials said a warship sustained damage in an attack on Saturday morning.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Ukraine conducted a drone strike on its Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, a major port city in Crimea, and caused minor damage to a Russian minesweeper.

Russia said the ships that were attacked were involved in “ensuring the security of the ‘grain corridor.” The country later announced that it was suspending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

“Taking into account the act of terrorism committed by the Kiev regime … Russia suspends its participation in the implementation of the agreements on the export of agricultural products from Ukraine,” the Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Telegram. 

The initiative was established in August, and was brokered with the help of the UN and Turkey. It allowed shipments of grain to leave Ukrainian ports for the first time in the more than five months since the war began. 

Ukraine is one of the world’s leading grain exporters, according to the UN. Russia’s earlier blockade caused concerns over food shortages in developing nations and skyrocketing cereal prices.

In the summer, the UN cereals index was up over 20 percent from its level ion June of 2021. Global wheat prices reached a record high in May.

The latest halt on grain exports injects more uncertainty into a global economy already plagued by high inflation, steep interest rates set by central banks and an energy squeeze.

Russia on Saturday also accused Britain of assisting Ukraine in the drone attack. However, Britain quickly dismissed the allegation.

“To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale,” the British Ministry of Defence said on Twitter. “This invented story, says more about arguments going on inside the Russian Government than it does about the west.”