JEDDAH: Moscow and Kiev issued tit-for-tat threats to shipping in the Black Sea on Thursday after Russia launched massive airstrikes against Ukrainian ports for a third straight night.
At least 27 civilians were injured in the port attacks, which set buildings ablaze and damaged China’s consulate in Odesa.
The latest confrontations came after Russia withdrew on Monday from a UN-brokered agreement guaranteeing safe passage to vessels exporting grain from the Black Sea ports.
Russia’s military said it would consider all ships heading for Ukrainian waters to be potentially carrying weapons, and Kyiv responded on Thursday with exactly the same threat.
The US said Russia’s warning suggested it could attack vessels at sea. “We believe this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks against civilian ships in the Black Sea and lay blame on Ukraine,” national security council spokesman Adam Hodge said.
Since quitting the deal, Moscow has rained missiles down nightly on Ukraine’s two biggest port cities, Odesa and Mykolaiv. Thursday’s strikes were the heaviest so far.
“The aggressor is deliberately hitting the port infrastructure. Administrative and residential buildings nearby were damaged ... it shows the enemy does not pay attention to anything,” Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the shock wave of the explosion “knocked down parts of the walls and window panes of the consulate. China is paying close attention to the relevant developments.”
In Mykolaiv, firefighters battled a huge blaze at a residential building blasted into a ruin. Several other residential buildings there were also damaged.
