Drone Strikes Around Odesa... Retaliation at Crimean Bridge
International Grain Prices Stir... Wheat Prices Begin to Rebound
Russia launched massive airstrikes on Black Sea coastal ports, including Odesa, a major grain export port of Ukraine, immediately after declaring its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Russian government has taken a hardline stance, stating that grain exports are impossible without its approval, causing international grain prices to rebound. As fighting is expected to continue in the Black Sea region between the two countries, there are concerns that grain prices will exhibit significant volatility for some time.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 18th (local time), the Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a press release that "last night, we carried out large-scale retaliatory airstrikes on two locations in Ukraine, Odesa and Mykolaiv, using unmanned underwater weapons (underwater drones)." They added, "We destroyed Ukrainian military raw material storage facilities and shipyards amounting to approximately 70,000 tons. This shipyard is where the underwater drones used in the Crimean Bridge attack were built."
The Ukrainian military also reported via their Telegram account that drone and cruise missile attacks were carried out on southern Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk. In particular, Russian attacks were reported to have been intensively focused on Black Sea coastal grain export ports such as Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Kherson.
The Russian government strongly warned that even after the termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukraine is using Black Sea routes without permission, and ships passing through these routes without Russian approval may face danger.
Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, said in a briefing, "Ships passing through areas very close to armed conflict zones (the Black Sea) without proper guarantees may encounter risks," and strongly criticized, "Ukraine is using the route for military purposes without explanation."
The Russian government emphasized that Ukraine was behind the recent explosion incident at the Crimean Bridge and that this airstrike itself was a retaliatory strike. Earlier, on the 17th, an explosion occurred on a section of the Crimean Bridge, killing two civilians crossing the bridge and injuring one. Russian authorities have pointed to a special unit of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) as responsible for the terrorist attack.
As the Black Sea coastal grain export ports are once again engulfed in conflict, international grain prices are fluctuating wildly. On this day, September wheat futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 2.60% from the previous session to 670.75 cents per bushel.
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