Russia bombards Odesa and other southern Ukraine port cities for third night since end of grain deal

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia pounded Ukraine’s southern cities with drones and missiles for a third consecutive night Thursday, keeping Odesa in the Kremlin’s crosshairs after a bitter dispute over the end of a wartime deal that allowed Ukraine to send grain through the key Black Sea port.

The strikes killed at least two people in Odesa. In the nearby city of Mykolaiv, which is close to the Black Sea, at least 19 people were injured, including a child, Ukrainian officials said.

Russia has targeted Ukrainian critical grain export infrastructure since it vowed “retribution” this week for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge between Russia and the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. Russian officials blamed that strike on Ukrainian drone boats.

The strikes on Ukraine’s grain export infrastructure have helped drive up food prices in countries facing hunger. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the end of the deal Monday would result in more human suffering, with potentially millions of people affected.

The grain deal provided guarantees that ships would not be attacked entering and leaving Ukrainian ports, while a separate agreement facilitated the movement of Russian food and fertilizer.

The Russian military on Thursday described its strikes on Odesa, a city whose downtown area is described by the United Nations’ cultural agency UNESCO as possessing “outstanding universal value,” as “retaliatory.”

In January, UNESCO added Odesa’s historic center to its list of endangered World Heritage Sites, with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay saying the “legendary port that has left its mark in cinema, literature and the arts.”