Russian President Vladimir Putin has been particularly angry lately and the Ukrainian port city of Odesa has been suffering the consequences.
In the Kremlin’s neo-imperial view, Odesa has long been a symbol of the Russian character of Ukraine’s south, because its initial development was led by Catherine the Great. Last year, Putin himself described it as “one of the most beautiful cities in the world,” with “wonderful traditions and history.” But for Putin’s criminal regime, nothing is sacred.
His fury became apparent on July 17, when he terminated the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a United Nations-backed agreement, signed in July 2022, that enabled Ukraine to export wheat, barley and other foods from the Port of Odesa, as well as the ports of Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi. The notion that Putin has any say over Ukraine’s ability to export goods that it produces, on its own ships, from its own ports is absurd. But he gets away with it by threatening to behave even more criminally than he already has: the northwestern Black Sea, Russia’s foreign ministry has declared, is “dangerous” again.