Russian attacks on grain exports challenge Ukraine, and the world – By Scott Peterson (CS Monitor) / July 27, 2023
Amid the distinct smell of burnt grain, it is the piles of mangled fragments of Russian missiles that attest to the importance of one family-owned, small-to-midsize Ukrainian grain storage site.
The facility 75 miles southwest of the Black Sea port of Odesa was targeted by Moscow less than a week ago as Russia stepped up its bombardment of Ukraine’s port and agricultural facilities. It was hit before dawn with three rockets, then with two more rockets an hour later.
Warehouses were blasted, machinery melted, and 120 metric tons of dried peas and barley burned.
Beside a wrecked loading platform, two missile tail pieces spill with barley, an incongruent image created by the Russian campaign to crush Ukraine’s grain export capability.
