Russian forces targeted two large North American-owned grain terminals in the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv (Nikolayiv) on June 22, as part of what Kyiv and Western governments said is a campaign to degrade Ukraine’s ability to export food, Bloomberg reported.
The strikes came as a major Russian oil and gas refinery close to the Ukrainian border was set ablaze after a drone, allegedly controlled by Kyiv’s forces, crashed into the facility earlier that day, according to the plant’s management.
Canadian agribusiness trader Viterra and U.S. grain trader Bunge Ltd. both said that they had a sunflower oil and grain terminal, respectively, hit in Mykolaiv on June 22.
Viterra said its terminal was on fire. The company, which is 50% owned by commodities major Glencore Plc, said there had been no casualties, though one employee is being treated for burns. Bunge said there had been no casualties at its plant, which has been closed since Russia’s invasion began.
Mykolaiv normally accounts for about 25% of Ukraine’s grain shipments.
The attacks come even as delegations from Russia and Turkey said they had a “positive” meeting in Moscow on the exit of grain ships from Ukraine, Bloomberg reported, citing Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency on June 22.
However, Rabobank analysts, in a June 22 emailed note cited by the Bloomberg report, believed even if an agreement on grain shipments could be reached today, safe passage could take months to complete.