Deliberately targeting infrastructure that facilitates the export of food to the rest of the world could be life-threatening to millions of people who need access to affordable food, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as speakers condemned the Russian Federation’s air strikes against ports and grain-storage facilities in Odesa.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said this week, the port city of Odesa has been the target of a devastating wave of air strikes. The 23 July Russian missile attack, which damaged the Transfiguration Cathedral and other historical buildings in the historic centre of Odesa, followed several successive nights of deadly missile and drone strikes targeting Odesa and other cities in southern Ukraine, including Mykolaiv and Chornomorsk.
He emphasized that attacks against Ukrainian Black Sea port facilities risk having far-reaching impacts on global food security, particularly in developing countries. Port cities that allow for the export of grain — such as Odesa, Reni and Izmail — are a lifeline for many. “Now they are the latest casualties in this senseless, brutal war,” he said, declaring: “Ukrainians have suffered enough, the world has suffered enough.” Läs artikel