On August 24, Russia attacked a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea with missiles. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak revealed that Ukrainian air defenses thwarted the attack.
“We know from declassified intelligence that the Russian military targeted several missiles on a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea on August 24,” Sunak told the House of Commons, while briefing MPs on the G20 summit held last weekend in New Delhi, which he attended.
The British Foreign Office later determined that the target of the attack was a Liberian-flagged cargo ship anchored in the harbour, and that it had been fired upon by a Russian Black Sea Fleet ship. The attack used, among other things, two Kalibr missiles, but none of the missiles reached the target as they were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
Putin is trying to win a war that he will not win, and these attacks show how desperate he is. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Russia was harming the rest of the world by attacking Ukrainian shipping ships and infrastructure.
Both Britain and the United States warned in July that once Russia withdraws from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, it may expand its attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea.
Sunak also announced that more than 270,000 buildings had been destroyed in just one month as a result of Russian attacks. One ton of grain is enough to feed one million people for a year.
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