Moscow says Odesa missile strike won’t affect grain plan

Bloomberg

Russia said on Monday its missile strike on Odesa targeted a military area and wouldn’t affect plans to resume grain exports from the Black Sea port.
Wheat prices have surged since the Russian attack, which came a day after it signed a Turkish-mediated deal to allow safe transit for Ukrainian grain shipments blocked since the war. Ukraine is continuing to prepare for those exports.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended cruise missile strikes on Odesa’s sea port, saying that “high-precision” strikes on Saturday targeted a Ukrainian naval ship and Harpoon anti-ship missiles recently delivered to Ukraine. Lavrov spoke at a press conference in the Republic of Congo on Monday.
Ukrainian officials said two Kalibr missiles hit the port’s infrastructure and two were shot down by air defense systems. The attacks hours after the signature of the grain deal were condemned by the US, European Union and UN.
Kyiv is set to resume its agriculture exports through the Black Sea this week, with the first shipments to be dispatched from the seaport Chornomorsk, one of three allowed to be used under a deal with Turkey and Russia, Interfax reported.
Ukrainian officials have already arrived in Istanbul to coordinate exports within the so-called Coordination Center, set up to help exports under the deal, the news service said, citing Ukraine’s Infrastructure Ministry.
Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its sixth month with Ukraine’s forces bolstered by high-precision artillery systems provided by the US. Ukrainian troops repelled assaults on the Kramatorsk and Bakhmut axes in the eastern region of Dontesk, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement. Moscow is seeking to solidify its hold on the region and eventually hold referendums there and other parts of the southeast as a prelude to annexation. Russian forces struck the Dnipropetrovsk area overnight, damaging houses and agricultural hangars, local governor Valentyn Reznichenko said on Telegram. Russian forces also hit the Kharkiv and Sumy regions in the northeast of Ukraine.
Ukraine has received the first three “Gepard” anti-aircraft systems from Germany, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Monday.
Kyiv was also hoping to reach an agreement with Germany for the delivery of “dozens” of “Leopard” tanks once crews are trained, he told local television. Reznikov confirmed reports that Ukraine had received a batch of Polish PT-91 Twardy battle tanks, but declined to say how many.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia wasn’t interested in cutting gas supplies to Europe.
Gazprom will reinstall the repaired Nord Stream 1 turbine once it arrives in Russia and flows will resume at levels that are technically possible, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
“The turbine will be installed after all the technological formalities have been completed and the flows will be at the levels that are technologically possible,” he told reporters, adding that Russia is “not interested” in cutting off its gas supplies to Europe.
“If Europe continues its course of absolutely recklessly imposing sanctions and restrictions that hit itself, the situation may change. But once again, Russia is not interested in this.”