Food Terror: A Chronicle of Attacks on Grain Port Infrastructure in Odesa Oblast

After the Russian Federation withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russian military forces have undertaken targeted attacks on grain infrastructure facilities in the ports of Odesa Oblast. As of August 23, 2023, at least 8 attacks on port grain infrastructure have been recorded since the Russian Federation's withdrawal from the grain initiative. In particular, grain terminals, warehouses and cargo capacities in the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk suffered damage, as well as the Danube ports of Izmail and Reni. The Public Reception Office of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union in Odesa, which operates on the basis of the Odesa Oblast Organization of Voters' Committee of Ukraine, analyzed the chronology of the attacks and their consequences for global food security.

On July 17, 2023, the Russian Federation withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, also known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative. In fact, Russia began laying the groundwork to torpedo the grain initiative back on July 11, when it dealt a powerful blow with 22 kamikaze drones on the port infrastructure of the ports in the Odesa district. As a result of the attack, two port terminals caught fire - a grain terminal and a fuel terminal. On July 19, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced that it would attack all ships heading towards Ukrainian ports. The last ship under the Black Sea Grain Initiative left the Odesa port early in the morning on July 16.

During the night of July 18 and 19, Russian military forces shelled various types of missiles and assault drones on port infrastructure facilities involved in the Grain Initiative - in particular, grain terminals and port infrastructure in the ports of Odesa and Chornomorsk were attacked. The large-scale night attack on July 19 put a significant part of the grain export infrastructure of the Chornomorsk port out of action. The grain infrastructure of international and Ukrainian traders and carriers Kernel, Viterra, CMA CGM Group suffered the most.

Photo: SC "South"

According to Kernel, during the attack and fire in the Chornomorsk port, 60,000 tons of grain were partially destroyed and damaged.

"This cargo was to be loaded onto the large-capacity ship Alexis and depart for China. However, this ship stood in line for the "grain corridor" for over 60 days and never came to Chornomorsk to load. The world has once again received less Ukrainian agricultural products due to the sabotage of the "grain initiative" and delays in inspections caused by representatives of Russia," the company said.

On July 20, Russian military forces again attacked Odesa and Odesa district with Kalibr missiles and Shahed drones. As a result of the shelling, port infrastructure facilities and warehouse premises of a private enterprise in the Odesa district were damaged and destroyed. Subsequently, the Russian military shifted attacks to the Danube ports, the logistics of which became an alternative route for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office

On July 24, the armed forces of the Russian Federation attacked the port infrastructure in the city of Reni with Shahed strike drones. As a result of the attack, at least four grain hangars, tanks for storing oil and fuel, administrative premises were damaged and destroyed.

"They are destroying the port," one of the entrepreneurs engaged in transshipment of grain informed us at 5 am," said Reni community chairman Igor Plekhov. As a result of this strike, Kernel company alone lost 6 thousand tons of warehouse capacity, and an oil transshipment terminal was also damaged and almost 1 thousand tons of sunflower oil was lost. According to HotNews.ro, citing the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as a result of the attack by Russian troops on the Ukrainian port of Reni, located just a few kilometers from the Romanian Galați, a Romanian ship was also damaged.

According to the Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksandr Kubrakov, as a result of attacks on the port infrastructure in the south of Ukraine, only in the first 9 days (as of July 26), 26 port infrastructure facilities and 5 civilian vessels were damaged and partially destroyed. "This could lead not only to losses for the Ukrainian economy, but also to a serious global food crisis, especially in such humanitarian sensitive regions as Africa and Asia," the minister said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported that during this period, due to attacks, 180 thousand tons of Ukrainian grain were destroyed.

Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office

Russia's food terror through shelling of ports in Southern Ukraine continued. On August 2, the armed forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive drone attack on the facilities of the port and industrial infrastructure of the Izmail Sea Commercial Port. As a result of the shelling, an elevator, grain warehouses, tanks of one of the cargo terminals, production, warehousing and administrative premises were damaged and destroyed. The three-story building of the seaport station and the building of UDSC "Ukrainian Danube Shipping Company", the key Ukrainian cargo carrier on the Danube, were also significantly damaged. According to the Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksandr Kubrakov, about 40,000 tons of grain were damaged, which were awaited by African countries, China, Israel.

On August 16, the Russian armed forces again attacked the port and industrial infrastructure of the Danube region with drones. The attack on the port of Reni resulted in damage and destruction to an elevator, warehouses, grain storage facilities, administrative offices, and agricultural machinery. According to Taras Vysotsky, First Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, the attack also resulted in the loss of 3-5 thousand tons of products, which are estimated to be worth millions of dollars.

Photo: Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office

Another Shahed-136/131 drone attack on the port infrastructure of Izmail took place overnight into August 23, 2023. As a result of the attack, granaries and handling facilities in the Danube region were damaged and destroyed, including warehouses and administrative buildings. According to Nibulon company, the Bessarabian branch of NIBULON was affected, and their warehouses suffered minor damage. Oleksandr Kubrakov, the Minister of Community and Territorial Development, indicated, "Russia is systematically striking at grain storage facilities and warehouses to stop our agricultural exports. Just overnight, the export capacity of the Izmail port was reduced by 15%; before that, there was the Reni port and 35 thousand tons of grain destroyed there."

Russia's systematic attacks on port facilities and grain infrastructure have caused significant damage to the maritime logistics and agricultural sector as a whole, including those involved in the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The Forbes magazine calculated that between July 18 and July 24, Russia fired at least 75 missiles and about 100 kamikaze UAVs toward Odesa Oblast. As a result of missile strikes, more than 460,000 tons of grain and several grain terminals were destroyed. As of August 23, 2023, Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksandr Kubrakov indicated that this was already the 8th attack on port infrastructure since Russia's withdrawal from the Grain Initiative. In total, 270 thousand tons of grain were destroyed in a month of attacks on ports.

The UN Human Rights Office warns of far-reaching human rights implications from attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine's grain infrastructure. Since July 11, the Russian Federation has carried out 14 such attacks, hitting grain terminals, warehouses, port infrastructure, industrial equipment and administrative buildings. These attacks have also disrupted Ukraine's global food supply lines. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed the deaths of four civilians and the wounding of 43 as a result of these attacks.

Photo: Ministry of Recovery

"These attacks cause not only immense human suffering and loss for families but also have a broader impact on livelihoods, farmers, communities and businesses in Ukraine and beyond," said Daniel Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

Ігор Льов