Ukraine launched a major overnight drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk, putting two major grain terminals out of operation and raising concerns over potential disruptions to global wheat supplies.
Russian industry sources said the attack affected grain-handling operations at the port, one of the key export routes for Russian agricultural products.
Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter, with much of its grain shipped through Black Sea ports including Novorossiysk.
Russia’s main grain lobby group warned last month that continued Ukrainian attacks could eventually disrupt Black Sea grain exports, potentially pushing global food prices higher and worsening food insecurity in Africa and the Middle East.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine had targeted Russia’s Novorossiysk naval base using drones, missiles and unmanned boats.
The port has become an important base for Russia’s Black Sea Fleet after repeated Ukrainian attacks on Russian naval assets in Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Veniamin Kondratyev, governor of Russia’s Krasnodar region, said a “massive” wave of Ukrainian attacks targeted the area and killed at least two people, including an eight-year-old child.
Andrei Kravchenko, mayor of Novorossiysk, said the city’s water supply had been suspended and an emergency situation declared following the attack.
He said four unspecified enterprises, more than two dozen residential buildings and several educational facilities were damaged.
Unverified videos circulated on social media showing a large tower of flames and smoke rising from the Novorossiysk area.
The attack immediately affected agricultural commodity markets, with Chicago wheat futures rising by about 3% on Wednesday as traders assessed the potential impact on Russian grain exports.
Ukraine is also a major grain exporter, but its shipments have already been significantly affected by the conflict.
Ukraine’s agriculture ministry said grain shipments fell 76% during the first two weeks of August compared with the same period last year.
Novorossiysk is also home to important oil export infrastructure, including facilities operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which transports Kazakh crude to international markets.
The CPC is partly owned by U.S. oil majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Ukraine had agreed, following a request from U.S. Vice President JD Vance in late July, not to target CPC infrastructure or non-Russian vessels, provided they were not under Ukrainian sanctions or carrying Russian oil or other cargo.
There was no indication that CPC facilities or tankers collecting oil from the pipeline were hit during the overnight attack.
In Crimea, more than three dozen drones were reportedly shot down over Sevastopol, according to the city’s Russian-installed governor, Mikhail Razvozhayev.
Separately, a Russian attack caused a fire at a shopping mall in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Another Russian attack on Odesa, Ukraine’s largest seaport, damaged infrastructure in the city, according to Serhiy Lysak, head of the regional military administration.
The latest attacks form part of an intensifying campaign targeting logistics, energy and port infrastructure on both sides of the conflict.
Moscow has increased strikes on Ukrainian logistics and warehouse facilities in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy, port and logistics hubs.
The escalation comes as diplomatic efforts continue to find a path toward ending the war.
Zelenskiy said on Tuesday that Kyiv had submitted proposals to U.S. negotiators for a plan to end the conflict, which began when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine has repeatedly called for a ceasefire after nearly four and a half years of fighting.
Russia has also said it wants a settlement but maintains that any agreement must address what it describes as the “root causes” of the conflict and require Ukraine to cede the four regions claimed by Moscow.
