After Russia’s withdrawal last month from an agreement allowing Ukraine to export its agricultural production, which is crucial for the world food security, the repeated Russian bombardments against Ukraine’s maritime and river ports have led to the destruction of over 270 thousand tons of grain, authorities in Kyiv have announced.
Only the bombing of the Danube port of Ismail on Tuesday night for instance wiped out 13 thousand tons of cereals, the Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov has said. Several grain terminals and private storehouses have been destroyed along with parts of the transport infrastructure. „I am terrified by Russia’s ongoing attacks over the port of Ismail. The Russian troops have been harming Ukrainian civilians and targeting the critical infrastructure for the grain transport constantly and deliberately. These are war crimes. Romania and the international community will bring to court all those involved” the head of the Romanian diplomacy, Luminita Odobescu, said on a social network.
Bucharest will continue to support Ukraine „in its brave fight to completely recover its territorial integrity” says the Romanian official, who had an online intervention on Wednesday during the third Summit of the Crimea International Platform, which, according to the Ukrainian authorities, brought together representatives of over 60 countries and international organizations. „18 months have passed since the onset of the invasion”, Minister Odobescu went on to say, „but the Russian aggression didn’t start with the war it commenced on February 24th 2022, but with the illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula back in 2014” „The latest reckless attacks against the Ukrainian ports on the Danube, very close to the Romanian border, have again shown Russia’s desire to step up this conflict” Odobescu says. „We will stand with the Ukrainian people and its sovereign right to freely decide its future without interventions from outside,” the Romanian Minister went on to say. „Donetsk is Ukraine, Kherson is Ukraine, Luhansk is Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia is Ukraine, Crimea is Ukraine.”
„Romania will continue to support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders” Odobescu says adding that Bucharest has stood with the neighboring country since the first day of the war and will continue to do so until the ‘final victory’. The Romanian official has also mentioned cases of human rights violation in the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian forces, describing these actions as war crimes.
(Corina Cristea, Radio Romania International)
