Russia launches its fourth airstrike in a week against the Ukrainian grain export region of Odessa

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An overnight Russian missile attack on Odessa killed at least four people, including a 16-year-old girl, regional authorities said Friday, likely the latest in a series of attacks this week on the southern Ukrainian region intent on disrupting the country’s grain exports.

Four Russian missile and drone strikes in the Odessa region this week killed 14 people and wounded around 20, according to local officials. The strikes have hit merchant ships and damaged port infrastructure in the region, which is a key hub for Ukraine’s agricultural exports across the Black Sea.

An attack in Odessa late Wednesday killed nine people and hit a Panamanian-flagged container ship – the third attack on a merchant ship in four days, according to regional governor Oleh Kiper.

Russia’s apparent attempt to hamper Ukraine’s exports, which provide vital revenue to an economy battered by more than two years of war, coincided with a renewed push by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to ensure continued military and financial support from his country’s Western partners .

Russia last year terminated a deal that allowed Ukraine – one of the world’s largest suppliers of grains and other staples, especially to developing countries – to safely export products across the Black Sea.

Months later, and amid successful Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet that forced its navy to withdraw from the coast, Ukraine established a shipping corridor encircling the coast to Turkey and opening a route to the Mediterranean.

A special insurance program provides affordable coverage to shippers who have transported millions of tons of cargo from Ukraine, but recent attacks could jeopardize that agreement.

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The Associated Press