Russia’s Black Sea fleet conducted live fire drills on Friday days after the Kremlin pulled out of the vital grain deal.
In a video released by the Russian defence ministry, the ship, the Ivanovets was seen launching rockets at a target to rehearse “apprehending an offending vessel”.
The country’s defence ministry said its Black Sea Fleet was rehearsing closing off areas that had temporarily been ruled off limits to shipping in order to launch practice rockets.
The drill comes after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) which was agreed last year. Kyiv subsequently said it wanted to set up a temporary shipping route to try and continue its grain exports.
The deal, brokered by the UN, had ensured safe passage for vessels crossing the Black Sea but as of Thursday, the Kremlin said any ship passing through the area would be treated as a target.
Since the deal was suspended, Ukrainian officials have reported multiple strikes on farm storage buildings at the Odesa port.
In the early hours of Friday, two missiles struck a storage facility at the port, starting a fire, and while workers fought to put it out another missile hit, destroying farm and firefighting equipment, the southern Odesa region’s governor Oleh Kiper said.
The attack injured two people and destroyed 100 metric tonnes of peas and 20 metric tonnes of barley, the official said.
“The enemy is continuing terror, and it’s undoubtedly related to the grain deal,” said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian military’s Operational Command South.
Moscow has described the attacks as revenge for a Ukrainian strike on a Russian-built bridge to Crimea.
