The United Kingdom, one of Ukraine's main allies, is responsible, according to Moscow, for the sabotage last month against the two Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea and for a drone attack this Saturday against its fleet in the Crimean peninsula. . After launching these accusations, Russia decided to suspend the agreements on the export of cereals and other agricultural products from Ukraine, reached in July with the mediation of the United Nations. London denied the Russian allegations, calling it fabrication.
The Russian Defense Ministry accused the British Navy of helping Ukraine to attack the Russian naval base in Sevastopol, on the Crimean peninsula, home of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, with drones in the early hours of Friday to Saturday.
Due to the attack, a minesweeper of the Russian Fleet and a floating protection net in Sevastopol's Yuzhnaya Bay suffered minor damage. Nine drones and seven unmanned maritime devices were used in the attack, all of which were shot down by Russian defenses, according to the ministry.
In response, Moscow announced that it is suspending the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products through the Black Sea.
The Russian Defense Ministry alleged that the "terrorist act of the Kyiv regime with the participation of British experts" was directed "against the ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian ships involved in ensuring the security of the 'grain corridor'". For this reason, "the Russian side suspends its participation in the implementation of agreements on the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports," he announced.
Subsequently, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zajárova, said that Russia "cannot guarantee the safety of merchant ships" that participate in the agreement for the export of grain and "suspends its compliance indefinitely."
Ukraine's foreign minister accused Moscow of using a "false pretext" to suspend its participation in the Black Sea grain corridor, a pact that aims to alleviate shortages of these agricultural products on global markets, as well as avoid excessive price increases. "I appeal to all states to demand that Russia stop its hunger games and recommit to its obligations," Ukraine's chief diplomat Dimitro Kuleba wrote on his Twitter account.
Moscow also blamed British Navy specialists for the September explosions that damaged the two Nord Stream 1 pipelines and one of the two Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the British military "participated in the planning, provision and execution of a terrorist act in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year to undermine the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines." The statement provided no evidence to support the allegations.
At the end of September, several explosions were recorded in these two infrastructures, and there were leaks in the waters of Sweden and Denmark. Russian President Vladimir Putin had already blamed the "Anglo-Saxons" for the explosions and called it sabotage. “The one who benefits is the one who does it,” he said.
The British Government, for its part, denied these accusations. His Defense Ministry called Moscow's remarks pure "fiction." In a message published this Saturday on Twitter, he assured that "the Russian Ministry of Defense has resorted to the dissemination of false statements of epic proportions." He added that "this fictional story speaks more about the disputes that take place within the Russian government than about the West."
Since Russia and Ukraine signed in Turkey, with the support of the UN, the pact for the export of grain through the Black Sea, several million tons of corn, wheat, sunflower derivatives, barley, rapeseed have been exported from Ukraine. and soy. Specifically, nine million tons on board 397 ships, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday.
In fact, there was hope that the agreement would be renewed before its expiration on November 19. It seems that this will no longer happen.
