New Delhi: Following what it claimed to be a drone attack on Russian ships in the seized Crimea, Russia has halted its participation in a historic arrangement that permitted crucial food deliveries from Ukraine.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, 16 drones from Ukraine attacked the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol in the seized Crimean Peninsula early on Saturday, and British military “specialists” helped plan the “terrorist” assault. London categorically denied Moscow’s assertion.
To lessen the global food crisis brought on by the conflict, Russia and Ukraine inked a deal in July to open grain shipments that was mediated by Turkey and the UN.
The deal, which was set to expire on November 19, had already permitted the export of more than 9 million tonnes of grain from Ukraine.
“The Russian side suspends participation in the implementation of agreements on the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Russia claimed that the action, which will reduce the amount of grain sent from Ukraine through its vital Black Sea ports, was adopted in response to the drone assault and the involvement of British experts.
The fleet’s headquarters and the logistical centre for operations in Ukraine are located at Sevastopol, which has been the target of many attacks in recent months.
In an attack on the port early on Saturday, the Russian army alleged to have “destroyed” nine airborne drones and seven maritime ones.
Russian forces claimed that British “specialists,” who they claimed were located in Ochakiv in southern Ukraine, had assisted in preparing and preparing Kyiv for the onslaught.
Russia alleged the same British team was involved in explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, further singling out the UK, which Moscow views as one of the most unfriendly Western nations.
The UK strongly rebutted both claims, saying “the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale”.
According to Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, Moscow will bring up the explosions and the purported drone strike at the UN Security Council.
The Russian Government’s internal conflicts are revealed more by this “fabricated fiction” than by the West, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
