Ukraine requests monitoring mission at Odesa ports amid Russian strikes

Ukraine has asked the International Maritime Organization to send a monitoring mission to ports in the southern Odesa region amid intensified Russian attacks, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Wednesday.

In recent weeks, Russian troops have ramped up missile strikes on Ukraine's southern port infrastructure and damaged a total of four foreign-flagged civilian vessels since Oct. 6.

"Amid increased Russian terror, Ukraine has officially appealed to the International Maritime Organization to immediately send an international monitoring mission to the ports," Sybiha told a briefing in Odesa after meeting his counterparts from the Nordic-Baltic Eight group.

He stressed that Russian strikes on port infrastructure, grain storage facilities and civilian vessels threatened global food security.

Ukraine is a major global grain grower and before Russia's invasion in 2022 the country exported about 6 million tons of grain alone per month via the Black Sea. About 85% of Ukrainian food exports now leaves Ukraine from its Black Sea ports.

Insurance sources had already reported a jump in insurance costs and some cancelled bookings after recent Russian attacks.

Ukraine says that Russia had carried out almost 60 attacks on ports over the past three months, resulting in the damage and destruction of nearly 300 port infrastructure facilities and 22 civilian vessels.