Russia accuses UK of using Black Sea corridor to supply Ukraine with arms

Ukraine created a shipping corridor in the Black Sea after the collapse of a UN-backed Black Sea grain export initiative that involved Russia

A serviceman of Ukraine’s coast guard surveys the waters from a patrol boat as a cargo ship passes by in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, February 7, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Russia on Wednesday accused Britain of using a Black Sea grain corridor to deliver arms to Ukraine, after denying London's allegations that Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports had disrupted crucial grain supplies for other countries.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last week that an increase in Russian attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea ports was delaying vital aid reaching the Palestinians and stopping crucial grain supplies from being delivered to the global south.

The United Nations said last week that Russian attacks on Ukrainian Black Sea ports had damaged six civilian vessels as well as grain infrastructure since Sept. 1, calling the ramp-up in strikes "distressing".

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Starmer's allegations that Moscow was damaging global food security with such strikes were wide of the mark.

"Such baseless yet thunderous outrage from London once again confirms just the opposite: the direct involvement of the UK in supplying arms to the Kiev regime using the Black Sea sea corridor," she told a press briefing.

Zakharova referred to what she said was recent video evidence concerning the port of Yuzhny, in Ukraine's Odesa region, and purported arms supplies published by Russia's Ministry of Defence.

Reuters could not independently verify her assertions and there was no immediate response to them from London.

Ukraine is a major global wheat and corn grower and exported about six million tonnes of grain alone per month via the Black Sea before Russia sent its troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Ukraine created a shipping corridor in the Black Sea after the collapse last year of a UN-backed Black Sea grain export initiative that involved Russia and had ensured the safe passage of grain ships.