British News Agency

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova assessed threats to civilian maritime transport in the Black Sea and global food security.

According to a statement published on the ministry’s website, Zakharova commented on an attack reportedly carried out with unmanned maritime vehicles against the oil tanker “Aframax Rio,” which was traveling from Novorossiysk to India off the coast of Sochi. Zakharova claimed that since January, the Ukrainian Armed Forces had carried out more than 250 attacks on vessels transporting oil, grain and other non-military cargo in the Azov and Black Sea basin.

Zakharova said Russia had responded by taking systematic measures targeting Ukraine’s military and economic capacity, arguing that Russian strikes were directed at facilities linked to the military-industrial complex.

Commenting on international initiatives aimed at ensuring navigation security in the Black Sea, Zakharova said proposals for maritime, energy and air ceasefires, as well as the creation of safe sea corridors, should include workable mechanisms. She said uninterrupted Russian exports of agricultural products and oil through the Black Sea should be guaranteed, along with measures preventing weapons shipments to Ukraine by sea.

Zakharova claimed that the Black Sea Grain Initiative implemented in 2022-2023 had been used for military shipments to Ukraine and that obligations toward Russia had not been fulfilled. She also argued that European Union logistical barriers and sanctions targeting Russia’s agricultural sector and economic operators had contributed to current food security problems.

Referring to shares of global grain exports, Zakharova claimed that Russia accounts for around 26 percent of global wheat exports and 20 percent of barley exports, while Ukraine’s shares stand at around 6 percent for wheat and 5 percent for barley. Zakharova said up to 70 percent of Ukraine’s agricultural products were sent to the European Union and other Western markets, adding that Russia was ready to compensate for any food supply shortfalls if necessary.

Zakharova said dialogue on global food security should be conducted without increasing political tensions and argued that, at the current stage, international pressure on Ukraine could produce more concrete results.