Russian Navy holds live-fire drills in the Black Sea

Russia's Defense Ministry said a missile ship "carried out a live-fire anti-ship cruise missile launch at a target ship" in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

Ships and air fleets have also "taken actions to isolate the area, and implemented a series of measures to seize the offending vessel," the ministry added.

After pulling out of an agreement to facilitate safe grain shipments from Ukraine, Russia has targeted Ukraine's grain supplies and key infrastructure at southern ports, including Odesa and Mykolaiv.

“The Russians attacked Odesa with Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea,” regional governor Oleg Kiper said, adding that the fighting had “destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley,” as well as left two people injured.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the impact of such attacks extended beyond Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin recently announced that Russia would take retaliatory measures after a Ukrainian attack damaged a bridge connecting Crimea to Russia and killed two people.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that it would consider cargo ships bound for Ukraine as potential military targets in the Black Sea.

Ukraine has also warned that from Friday it could treat ships heading to Russian ports “as carrying military cargo, with all the risks involved”. Ukraine said it would continue to export grain from its southern ports, despite Russia’s withdrawal from the deal.

Quoc Thien (according to AFP)