‘Hunger games’ as Russia suspends grain deal with Ukraine

Moscow pulls out of a UN-brokered grain deal after accusing the British of organising drone attacks on Russia ships in Crimea.

Ships, including those carrying grain from Ukraine and awaiting inspections are seen anchored off the Istanbul coastline on October 14 in Istanbul, Turkey. Picture: Getty

Moscow has pulled out of a United Nations-brokered grain deal with Ukraine after accusing the British of organising an attack on the Russian fleet in the Black Sea.

On Saturday morning a series of drones targeted various Russian ships in Sevastopol, including the frigate Admiral Makarov, which had been the flagship of the fleet after the Moskva was destroyed earlier in the war.

Extraordinary footage from one of the drones flying close to the waterline shows it veering past a Russian patrol boat – including footage of a sailor diving off the back of the boat – before it approaches the Markarov.

The UK Ministry of Defence said Russia was “peddling lies” after Moscow accused the British Navy of helping Ukraine in the Black Sea attack, as well as claiming that London was responsible for the explosion which crippled the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September.

The UK Ministry of Defence said: “To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale. This invented story, says more about arguments going on inside the Russian Government than it does about the west.”

A spokesperson for the Russian defence ministry said: “At 4.20am today, the Kyiv regime carried out a terrorist attack on Black Sea Fleet ships and civilian vessels. Preparation for the terrorist act and training of military personnel of the Ukrainian 73rd Special Operations Centre Marine Unit was carried out under the guidance of British specialists who were in the city of Ochakiv, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine.”

This followed Russian claims a “unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 which blew up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines”. Russia said the ships targeted in Saturday’s attack had been involved in the UN deal that exported grain from Ukrainian ports.

Millions of tonnes of corn, wheat sunflower, barley, rapeseed and soya had been exported under the UN”s Black Sea Grain initiative agreed back in July, with around a quarter of the exports going to poor countries, including in Africa.

Before cancelling the deal, Russia had said it would supply an other 500,000 tonnes of grain to poor countries in the next four months for free, with assistance from Turkey, to replace Ukrainian grain.

But by Saturday afternoon the Russian Ministry of Defence announced: “Taking into account... the terrorist act by the Kyiv regime with the participation of British experts against the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels involved in ensuring the security of the ‘grain corridor,’ the Russian side suspends participation in the implementation of agreements on the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports”.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN was in contact with Russian officials.

He said: “It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative which is a critical humanitarian effort that is clearly having a positive impact on access to food for millions of people around the world”.

Ukraine foreign ministry Dymtro Kuleba accused Russia of “hunger games”. In a tweet, Mr Kuleba said: “I call on all states to demand Russia to stop its hunger games and recommit to its obligations”.