Ukraine grain export deal extended for four months

"Ukraine wants the agreement's extension indefinitely…This is vital for stability."

— -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

An agreement allowing Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea and aimed at relieving global food insecurity has been extended for 120 days, officials said yesterday, as Russia pounded Ukrainian energy facilities in a new wave of missile strikes.

The deal between the two warring sides, brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in July, has helped to transport more than 11 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural products from Ukrainian ports since the start of August. It had been due to expire tomorrow.

Yesterday, Ukrainian and Turkish officials announced that the agreement would be extended by four months under existing conditions.

"#BlackSeaGrainInitiative will be prolonged for 120 days," Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter, while a senior Turkish official confirmed to AFP that the deal had been extended "under current terms".

Russia confirmed that it had allowed the extension of the grain deal "without changes".

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hailed the extension and said the grain deal "continues to demonstrate the importance of discreet diplomacy in the context of finding multilateral solutions," he said.

Guterres also sought to allay Moscow's concerns, saying that "the United Nations is also fully committed to removing the remaining obstacles to exporting food and fertilisers from the Russian Federation".

Both agreements were "essential to bring down the prices of food and fertiliser and avoid a global food crisis," Guterres said in a statement released by the Istanbul-based Joint Coordination Center (JCC) that has been overseeing the agreement.

"Ukraine wants the agreement's extension indefinitely," President Volodymyr Zelensky said. "This is vital for stability," he said in a speech broadcast on social media.

Meanwhile, fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine yesterday, officials said, the latest in a wave of attacks that have crippled the country's energy infrastructure as winter sets in and temperatures drop.

AFP journalists in several Ukraine cites said the new barrage had come with snow falling for the first time this season and after officials in Kyiv warned of "difficult" days ahead with a cold spell approaching.

The head of the central region of Dnipropetrovsk Valentyn Reznichenko said Russian strikes hit the administrative centre of Dnipro. "An industrial enterprise has been hit. There is a big fire," he said, later announcing that 14 people were injured, including a 15-year-old girl.

In the southern Odessa region, a Russian strike also targeted infrastructure and the governor warned residents of the threat of a "massive" missile attack on the Black Sea territory.

The eastern region of Kharkiv was also struck governor Oleg Synegubov announced, adding that Russia hit "critical infrastructure" in strikes that injured three people.

Zelensky published amateur footage of what he said showed a Russian strike on Dnipro, calling Moscow a "terrorist state" and saying Moscow "wants to bring Ukrainians only more pain and suffering."