Shipowners have temporarily suspended ship entry into Ukraine's Black Sea ports to export agricultural produce after a sharp increase in Russian attacks on port infrastructure and merchant ships, the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry said, quoted by "Reuters".
Ukraine has lost about a third of its capacity to export grain through its Black Sea ports due to Russian missile and drone strikes, traders and analysts say.
"Today, not a single ship passed through Ukraine's Black Sea shipping corridor - right at the peak of the harvest season. "This is deliberate economic and humanitarian terror," Sibiga wrote in X. He added that Kiev had requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday.
Alternative routes and available infrastructure are currently not being used to their full potential, he said.
After Russia withdrew from the agreement on safe agricultural exports through the Black Sea in 2023, Ukraine has relied mainly on its own maritime corridor for grain exports. However, Russian attacks on deep-sea ports and international merchant ships have intensified in recent weeks. Shipbrokers say the growing military risk has led shipowners to avoid Ukrainian ports, and traders have temporarily suspended purchases.
A Russian missile strike near Odessa on Sunday on a corn-carrying ship killed nine crew members from India and Syria, as well as a Ukrainian pilot, Ukrainian authorities said.
Acting Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha said Russia had attacked at least three civilian cargo ships in recent days.
"Today, not a single ship passed through Ukraine's Black Sea shipping corridor - right at the peak of the catch. This is deliberate economic and humanitarian terror," Sibiha wrote in X. He added that Kiev had requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday.
Moscow says it is attacking port infrastructure and ships supporting the Ukrainian military. Meanwhile, Ukraine has also stepped up its strikes on ships in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea as part of a campaign to isolate occupied Crimea and limit Russian revenues.
On Wednesday, Russia imposed a temporary ban on ship traffic to and from the port of Novorossiysk, which handles up to a third of Russia's grain exports.