The White House has warned that Russia may expand its targeting of Ukrainian grain facilities to include attacks on civilian shipping vessels in the Black Sea.
Adam Hodge, spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, stated that U.S. officials have information suggesting that Russia has deployed additional naval mines at the entrances of Ukrainian ports, and that Russia has declared that all ships heading to Ukrainian ports via the Black Sea will be considered potential carriers of military shipments.
Hodge added, "We believe this is a coordinated effort to justify any attacks on civilian vessels in the Black Sea and to blame Ukraine for these attacks."
He noted that "in addition to this coordinated effort in the Black Sea, we have observed that Russia targeted Ukrainian grain export ports in Odesa with missiles and drones on July 18 and 19, resulting in the destruction of agricultural infrastructure and 60,000 tons of grain."
Ukraine previously accused Russia, on Wednesday, of damaging the grain export infrastructure in "brutal" overnight strikes that focused on two of its Black Sea ports, vowing that such actions would not deter it from working to maintain the flow of grain exports from its ports.
