Russian missiles strike Odesa grain warehouses, Ukrainian official says

Russian missiles struck grain warehouses in Odesa overnight, destroying tons of crops in storage, as Moscow’s forces targeted the southern port city for a fourth straight night, a Ukrainian military official said.

In a Telegram post Friday, Oleh Kiper, head of the Odesa regional military administration, said the attacks were carried out with Kalibr missiles fired from the Black Sea.

“Unfortunately, there are hits on the grain terminals of an agricultural enterprise in Odesa region. The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley,” he said.

Two people were injured in the attacks, he added.

Food security: Russia’s sustained attacks on Odesa this week come after Moscow pulled out of a critical grain deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports a safe way out of the country’s Black Sea ports. The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General has warned that attacks on port cities will have an impact “well beyond Ukraine” when it comes to food prices.

Matthew Hollingworth, the UN World Food Programme Ukraine representative, told CNN Thursday that of the 33 million tons of food that was shipped out of Ukraine through the grain initiative since last July, 20% went to the Global South. About 725,000 tons of food was supplied to people living in countries that “desperately need that food assistance,” including Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan, he said.

Moscow has said the attacks on Odesa are retaliation for a Ukrainian strike Monday on the bridge linking occupied Crimea to Russia.

From CNN’s Olga Voitovych and Alex Stambaugh