Russian media and officials are doing their best to deny involvement in the missile strikes on the Odesa seaport or claim that the target was a military facility. In addition, Russian media say that allegedly the UN does not condemn the violation of the agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine.
Russia’s strike on the port of Odesa did not violate the grain deal — UN representative. A missile attack on targets in the seaport of Odesa could not violate the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, informs The New York Times citing the UN representative. The newspaper quotes an unnamed UN official that doubted the Ukrainian and Western media allegations that Russia violated an agreement to export grain from Ukraine. «Russia may not have technically violated the grain deal, since it did not pledge to avoid attacking the parts of the Ukrainian ports that are not directly used for the grain exports.»
The head of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense has declared that Russia was not involved in the shelling of the port of Odesa.
In fact
The port in Odesa was shelled by the armed forces of the Russian Federation and UN Secretary-General António Guterres unconditionally condemned the attacks on the port. As you know, in Istanbul on July 22, agreements on unblocking the Ukrainian ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny were signed between Ukraine, Turkey and the UN, as well as between Russia, Turkey and the UN. One of the items of the agreement is a ban on attacking ports from which grain will be exported. However, less than 24 hours after the signing of the agreement, the Russian army had fired 4 missiles at Odesa. According to the «South» Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defence, the rest hit the infrastructure of the seaport. The Russian Defence Ministry has reported that a Ukrainian warship was destroyed by high-precision missiles in the seaport of Odesa on the territory of a shipyard. The Armed Forces of Ukraine has denied the statement of the RF representatives bout the military goals of the strike. The Russian army launched a missile attack on the part of the port infrastructure where grain was stored, the Ukrainian Air Force spokesman, Yuriy Ignat said.
In addition, Russian media disseminate information according to which the head of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense allegedly stated that Russia had nothing to do with the shelling of Odesa. An official statement of the Turkish Ministry of National Defense on the website contains a video and a commentary by Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar about the strikes on Odesa. «In the contacts that we had with Russia, the Russians told us that they had nothing to do with this attack and that they are studying the issues very carefully and in detail,» Minister Akar said. That is, the Turkish Defense Minister voiced the position of the Russian side. He did not claim that Russia did not strike at the trading port in Odesa. In addition to this manipulative message, it is also stated that the UN supposedly believes that the Russian Federation did not violate the grain agreements signed in Istanbul with a missile attack on the port of Odesa. The basis for this is an article in The New York Times. Indeed, in its publication, The New York Times cites the opinion of one of the unnamed UN officials, according to which Russia, with its missile attack on the port of Odesa, «may not have technically violate» the signed agreements, since it didn’t pledge to avoid attacking the parts of the Ukrainian ports that are not directly used for the grain exports. According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, an unofficial comment by an anonymous source for The New York Times does not reflect the position of the UN. It can only be voiced by the UN Secretary General. Earlier, the office of António Guterres said that the UN Secretary General unequivocally condemns the strikes on the port. «All parties have assumed clear international obligations in order to ensure the safe delivery of Ukrainian grain and related products to global markets. These commodities are essential to overcome the global food crisis and to alleviate the suffering of millions of those in need around the world. Full compliance with the terms of the agreement is mandatory for Russia, Ukraine and Turkey,» the office said in a statement.