Author of this article: Beiyue Qingfeng
According to Global Network , citing TASS , local time, the Sevastopol military port, the home port of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was attacked by the Ukrainian army. According to Mikhail Razwozaev, Mayor of Sevastopol, the attack began at 4:30 am on October 29, and lasted for several hours. Mikhail Razwozaev said in an interview with Russian media that this was the largest attack in the Crimea region since the special military operation broke out on February 24.
And on the same day, Russian Ministry of Defense also confirmed the news. According to , the Russian Ministry of Defense , there are 16 drones that participated in the attack on the Sevastopol military port this time, including 9 aerial drones and 7 water drones. This attack has been repelled by the Black Sea Fleet , and only one minesweeper in Russia has suffered minor damage.
However, Ukraine's statements are different. According to the Associated Press report, Ukrainian Interior Minister Anton Glashchenko said that the attack by the Ukrainian army caused explosions of four warships, including an frigate , an landing ship and a missile boat that can carry cruise missile .
It is worth noting that after the Sevastopol military port was attacked by drones, the focus of all parties did not seem to be on this level, but focused on the indefinite suspension of the "Black Sea Grain Export Agreement".
Attack on the Sevastopol military port became the fuse for the suspension of the "Black Sea Food Transport Agreement"
Shortly after the attack on the Sevastopol military port, on October 29, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement to suspend "grain transactions" indefinitely. The statement pointed out that in view of the actions of Kiev , Russia can no longer guarantee the safety of civilian ships participating in the "Black Sea Grain Export Agreement", and therefore suspended the implementation of the agreement. After suspending participation in cereal trading, Russia issued relevant instructions to its representatives in the Istanbul Coordination Centre. The Russian Ministry of Defense also issued a corresponding statement saying that Russia suspended its participation in grain trading after a terrorist attack in the waters of Sevastopol.
"Food Transaction" is suspended indefinitely, which means that the "Black Sea Food Transport Agreement" reached in July is likely to be terminated forever, and the treaty is basically in a state of being suspended. As soon as this news came out, public opinion in the entire Western countries instantly boiled. EU issued a statement warning Russia not to take unilateral actions that could endanger the cereal agreement. Biden calls Russia's decision to suspend the "cereal agreement" "is simply outrageous." He told reporters that Moscow "has no reason to do so". Zelensky spokesman Niki Forov said that Ukraine hopes Türkiye and the United Nations can respond to the statement. Zelensky directly accused Russia of deliberately creating famine and that he was not worthy of becoming a member of G20. A spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General said that the UN will coordinate with Moscow. Türkiye has now begun action and negotiated with Moscow.
Judging from the entire process of this incident, the attack on the Sevastopol military port on October 29 seemed to have become the main reason for the indefinite suspension of the "Black Sea Food Transport Agreement". In fact, since July, Russia has been very dissatisfied with the agreement. It is only a matter of time before the food transportation agreement is suspended. The attack on the Sevastopol military port was just a fuse.
Russia did not gain any benefits from the agreement, and there were serious deviations in implementation. It was a matter of time before it was abolished. On July 22, under the coordination of Turkey and the United Nations, Russia and Ukraine indirectly reached a "Black Sea Cereal Export Agreement". This agreement is actually a double agreement, one of which was guaranteed by Turkey and the United Nations and demarcated a route for Ukrainian grain transportation with Russia, so that the long-standing grain accumulated in the Ukrainian Black Sea port can quickly enter the international food market.
, while the other involves Russia's food exports, guaranteed by the United Nations, helping Russia lift various restrictions on exporting agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market. So theoretically, this agreement is an agreement related to the joint distribution of food between Russia and Ukraine. However, during the execution process, deviations occurred.
Ukraine's grain has been exporting in large quantities. According to data provided by the intermediary, Turkey, since the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey reached the "Black Sea Cereal Export Agreement", from the first ship departed from Ukraine on August 1 to October 16, 7.5 million tons of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products were exported from the Black Sea port. According to the Associated Press, the data given by the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure is that since the first grain ship left Odessa on August 1, Ukraine has exported more than 9 million tons of grain and agricultural products. It can be said that through this grain transport agreement, Ukraine's grain has been successfully exported in large quantities.
And what about Russia? According to Russia, the West still has restrictions on its exports of grain and fertilizers, and there are no signs of loosening. Just the day before the "Black Sea Food Transport Agreement" was suspended, UN Secretary-General Guterres has been urging Western countries to speed up the elimination of obstacles that hinder Russia's food and fertilizer exports. It can be seen that in the past three months, Russia has not gained any benefits from this grain transport agreement. Instead, Ukraine has been continuously obtaining foreign exchange through large-scale exports of grain. This contrast will naturally make Russia feel strongly dissatisfied.
What made Russia even more angry was that Ukraine's export of food did not go to the poor countries in Africa, but instead flowed into Europe in large quantities. According to data provided by Turkey, as of October 16, 63% of the 7.5 million tons of grain exported by Ukraine were shipped to Europe, 24% were shipped to Asia, 13% were shipped to Africa, and only 5.6% were shipped to poor countries.
This is interesting. At the beginning, Western countries have been constantly criticizing Russia for creating famines, and often use poor countries that require extreme food as an excuse. However, after the food transportation agreement was reached, Ukraine's food flowed into Europe in large quantities. Previously, Putin himself also publicly mentioned this issue. He said on the spot that he would discuss this issue with Erdogan.
When this "Black Sea Food Transport Agreement" is terminated, Western countries will naturally be in trouble. In fact, there have been deviations since the implementation of this agreement, especially in Russia's view, this is simply a strange agreement. It has not gained any benefits from this agreement. Instead, Ukraine is constantly obtaining more foreign exchange, and Western countries are profiting from it. Therefore, it is probably sooner or later that this "grain transportation agreement" will be abolished.
