Wheat prices rose sharply on July 25 after Russian missiles struck the Ukrainian port of Odessa over the weekend, despite Kremlin claims the strike targeted military installations and would not affect grain exports.
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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on July 25 that the two Kalibr missiles that landed near a pumping station in the port of Odessa were “exclusively” aimed at military infrastructure and were “not related to the agreement on the export of cereals” concluded on July 22 in Istanbul by Russia, Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey.
“It cannot and should not affect the start of the expedition,” Peskov told reporters.
However, wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade rose nearly 4% to $7.86 a bushel on July 25, regaining much of the ground lost after the deal was signed.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russia’s invasion of the country and its naval blockade of Ukrainian ports have halted shipments.
This has caused global food prices to soar, leaving millions of people in poor countries at risk of hunger and sparking fears of social unrest.
The deal to reopen Ukraine’s three Black Sea ports for grain exports is valid for 120 days and targets monthly exports of 5 million tons.
In Ukraine, fighting continued unabated as the invasion of Moscow entered its sixth month, with Russian troops bombarding several locations in the north, south and east amid indications that the Russian military, in addition to its personnel shortage, was also having difficulty replacing or repairing hundreds of battle-damaged pieces of equipment.
Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on July 25 that Ukrainian forces destroyed 50 Russian ammunition dumps using US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
“It cuts off their supply chains and takes away their ability to conduct active combat and cover our armed forces with heavy bombardment,” Reznikov said in televised comments.
Ukrainian wheat burns as food crisis looms
A summer heat wave and the possible deliberate targeting of Ukrainian farmland has added a chilling new element to the Russian invasion as swathes of wheat are destroyed by fire.
The Russian Defense Ministry, in turn, said on July 25 that its forces had destroyed an ammunition depot for HIMARS systems in Bohdanovtsy, in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskiy region.
Neither the Ukrainian nor Russian claims could be independently confirmed.
Russia has previously said it destroyed several of the HIMARS systems supplied to Ukraine by the West, in claims denied by Kyiv.
Reznikov on July 25 as well said Germany’s first three Cheetah anti-aircraft missile systems are already in Ukraine.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said in its July 25 daily intelligence bulletin that “inconclusive” fighting was underway in the east and in the Kherson region which fell to the Russians early in the war.
Displaced Ukrainians return to face danger and death in frontline homes
Local officials say tens of thousands of people who fled Ukraine’s besieged Donetsk region are returning to their homes near the front lines. Some returning say life away from home was either too expensive or too uncomfortable.
The the bulletin said low personnel resources make it difficult for Russian commanders to decide whether to strengthen the offensive in the east or strengthen the defense in the west.
He added that British intelligence had identified a Russian military vehicle overhaul and refurbishment facility near Barvinok in Russia’s Belgorod Oblast, 10 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
“At least 300 damaged vehicles were present, including main battle tanks, armored personnel carriers and general support trucks,” the update added.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said On July 24, Russian troops continued their attempts to take control of a power station in Vuhlehirsk, some 50 kilometers northeast of Donetsk. The plant is the second largest in Ukraine and a strategic infrastructure target that Russian forces wish to seize.
The General Staff said Russian forces withdrew after another failed attempt to seize the plant.
“The enemy is losing personnel but stubbornly continues its attempts to establish control over the territory of the Vuhlehirskaya [power plant],” It said.
The General Staff said Ukrainian forces repelled a previous attempt to take over the plant on July 22.
Yuriy Ihnat, Spokesperson for the Armed Forces Air Force Command, said Ukrainian attack planes launched missile attacks on three Russian strongholds, destroying equipment and killing troops.
In Moscow, the head of the Russian investigative commission said Russia had charged 92 members of Ukraine’s armed forces with crimes against humanity.
Aleksandr Bastrykin told the government news site Rossiiskaya Gazeta that more than 1,300 criminal investigations had been opened. Some 96 people, including 51 armed forces commanders, are wanted, he said.
Ukrainians have been involved in “crimes against the peace and security of mankind”, he told the site.
Bastrykin’s claims could not be independently verified and Ukraine had no comment.
WATCH: A video shot by a Russian soldier captures a military mutiny in Ukraine – as men from a military engineering unit defy their commander and refuse to fight. Photos sent by another soldier in the unit showed a basement where they were later held. Two mothers of men in the unit said 20 soldiers were being held ahead of a court martial.
Kyiv also conducts its own investigations. Ukrainian authorities said earlier this month they were examining more than 21,000 war crimes and crimes of aggression allegedly committed by Russian forces since the invasion began on February 24.
The International Criminal Court sent a team of investigators and forensic experts to Ukraine, which it described as a “crime scene”.
The Kremlin denies any war crimes or targeting civilians.
