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The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Ukraine, at the request of U.S. Vice President JD Vance in late July, agreed to refrain from targeting Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) infrastructure and non-Russian vessels, as long as those vessels were not subject to Ukrainian sanctions or transporting Russian oil or other cargo. Ukraine’s presidential office did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
A major Ukrainian attack struck Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk on Wednesday, hitting warships at a naval base and forcing two major grain terminals to suspend operations, according to Russian and Ukrainian officials and grain industry sources. Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said at least two people were killed, including an eight-year-old child. Ukraine’s SBU security service described the operation as having “strategic significance,” confirming that drones and missiles hit the Novorossiysk naval base. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said two frigates, a large landing ship, a corvette, and other vessels were damaged.
Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, and the strikes on grain terminals raised fears of disruption to global supplies. Chicago wheat futures rose around 3% on Wednesday following the attack. Russia’s agriculture ministry said it was working to redirect export flows to alternative routes. The country’s main grain lobby group had warned last month that Ukrainian attacks could shut down Black Sea grain exports, driving up prices and causing hunger in Africa and the Middle East.
Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko said the port suspended its water supply and declared an emergency after the strikes. He reported damage to four enterprises, more than two dozen residential buildings, and some educational facilities.
Meanwhile, Russian strikes on ships in the Black Sea have sharply reduced grain exports from Ukraine, another major global supplier. Ukraine’s agriculture ministry said shipments fell 76% in the first two weeks of August compared to the same period last year. Separately, Ukraine and Moldova agreed on Wednesday to a plan for routing Ukrainian grain shipments through Moldova by rail.
In Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, the Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, said more than three dozen drones were shot down over the city on Wednesday.
As the war enters its fifth year, Russia has intensified strikes on Ukraine’s logistics and warehouse facilities in response to Kyiv’s attacks on Russian energy, port, and logistics hubs. Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv handed proposals to U.S. negotiators for a plan to end the conflict, which began with Russia’s full
