Russia 'spits in the face' hits Odessa a day after grain deal

The agreement signed by Moscow and Kyiv on Friday is crucial to curbing soaring global food prices, but hours later the main port of Odessa has been hit by missiles Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike at a seaport in Odessa (

Image: via Reuters)

Russian missiles bombarded the main port of Odessa in southern Ukraine today, just hours after an agreement was signed to unblock grain exports from the Black Sea.< /p>

The agreement signed by Moscow and Kyiv on Friday is crucial to curbing soaring global food prices.

This will allow some exports to be shipped from Black Sea ports, including Odessa.

UN officials had said they hoped the deal would be up and running within weeks, but it's unclear whether that will be possible after today's strikes.

Two missiles hit the port while two others were shot down by air defense forces, Ukrainian military commanders said.

The US Ambassador to Kyiv, Bridget Brink, called the strike outrageous.

A grain terminal is seen after a Russian missile strike (

Picture:

REUTERS)

She said, "The Kremlin continues to weaponize food. Russia must be held to account."

The United States is studying the possibility of sending fighter jets to Ukraine, a White House spokesperson has said.

The blockade of Ukrainian ports by the Russian Black Sea Fleet since the invasion of Moscow on February 24 has trapped tens of millions of tons of grain.

Russia and Ukraine are the world's largest suppliers of wheat, and the war has driven up food prices.

A global food crisis has plunged 47 million people into acute hunger. Meanwhile, heartbreaking photos of five female fighters who died in the siege of Mariupol in May have been released.