The Russian military on Wednesday targeted two grain terminals owned by Western companies in the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, dealing another substantial blow to the global food supply chain, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Soon after, the Canadian agribusiness Viterra said that one of its terminals was on fire, confirming no deaths but one injured employee. The U.S.-based Bunge Limited also claimed one of its terminals was hit but said there were no casualties.
The Kremlin's latest attack continues a string of attempts by Russian President Vladimir Putin to hinder exports in and out of Ukraine.
According to The New York Times, Russia is seeking buyers for its plundered Ukrainian harvest. Earlier this month, African Union head Macky Sall, who is president of Senegal met with Putin to discuss trading the stolen crops to Africa.
"This is not a dilemma," said Hassan Khannenje, director of the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies. "Africans don't care where they get their food from, and if someone is going to moralize about that, they are mistaken."
"The need for food is so severe," he added, "that it's not something they need to debate."
Since last month, Russia and Turkey have also been considering a deal with the United Nations to open Ukrainian food exports to the world market in exchange for the West easing Russian and Belarusian fertilizer exports, according to Reuters.
"We support efforts to address this crisis, including ensuring the flow of key commodities," a spokesperson for Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., reportedly said.
"We're very concerned about the impact of the war on shipping in the Black Sea, on Ukraine's ability to export grain, and the way in which rising food insecurity in Africa, the Middle East, and around the world has been exacerbated by Russia's brutal war."
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