Moscow is no longer intent on cutting off Ukraine’s ports simply by blocking ships from leaving, Ukrainian officials said after the latest aerial assault against Odesa on Wednesday.
By targeting the city’s shipping facilities with missiles and drones, Ukrainian officials said, Mr. Putin wants to destroy the infrastructure that allows Ukraine, a major grain exporter, to provide food to the world.
The three ports that ring Odesa are Ukraine’s largest and include the only deepwater port in the country.
Before the war, about 70 percent of Ukraine’s total imports and exports were carried out by sea, and nearly two-thirds of that trade moved through the ports of Odesa.
“And this means that they will attack ports, infrastructure and possibly ships,” he warned, speaking on national television.
Persons:
Putin, Vasyl Bodnar
Organizations:
Odesa, Initiative, United
Locations:
Kyiv, Odesa, Moscow, Ukraine, United Nations, Turkey, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine’s