Ukraine was on Sunday pressing ahead with efforts to resume grain exports from Odesa and other Black Sea ports after a missile attack had cast doubt over whether Russia would honour a deal aimed at easing global food shortages.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced Saturday's strikes on Odesa port as blatant "barbarism" that showed Russia could not be trusted to adhere to Friday's deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations.
Russia said its forces had hit a Ukrainian warship and a weapons store in Odesa with missiles.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Kalibr cruise missiles had destroyed a Ukrainian “military infrastructure facility” in the Black Sea port.
She issued the statement on Telegram on Sunday, a day after Ukraine’s military said the strategic port had come under attack in a development of the war that drew international condemnation including from the US, EU and UN.
Moscow targeted the port a day after it signed a deal with Kyiv to ensure safe shipping of grain from Ukrainian ports.
Earlier, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said Moscow had denied any involvement.
“The Russians told us that they had absolutely nothing to do with this attack and they were looking into the issue very closely,” he said.
Ukraine's military said two Russian Kalibr missiles hit the area of a pumping station at the port and two others were intercepted.
The military said the port's grain storage area was not hit and a government minister said preparations to resume shipments were continuing.
"We continue technical preparations for the launch of exports of agricultural products from our ports," Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said that Russia had breached its promises with the attack but Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka insisted that Friday’s deal remained in place.
“It doesn’t mean that all agreements are crossed out, because everyone understood that any agreement has high risks,” Mr Kachka said. “Today’s shelling clearly illustrated all those risks that existed did not disappear — they still exist.”
The attack cast doubt over validity of the deal signed by Moscow and Kyiv in Istanbul, which was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough that would help curb soaring global food prices caused by Russia's war in Ukraine.
A Joint Co-ordination Centre staffed by the UN, Turkey, Russia and Ukraine is to monitor ships transiting the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosporus Strait en route to world markets. All sides agreed on Friday there would be no attacks on these entities.
UN officials said the deal, expected to be operational within a few weeks, would restore grain shipments from three Ukrainian ports to pre-war levels of 5 million tonnes a month.
Oleh Ustenko, economic adviser to the Ukrainian president, on Sunday said the attack on the strategic port city showed deliveries could still be seriously disrupted despite the deal.
"Yesterday's strike indicates that it will definitely not work like that," Mr Ustenko told Ukrainian television.
While Ukraine had the capacity to export 60 million tonnes of grain over the next nine months, this could take up to two years if its ports could not function properly, he said.
A blockade of ports by Russia's Black Sea fleet since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 has halted shipment of tens of millions of tonnes of grain from two of the world's major suppliers.
Moscow denies responsibility for the food crisis, blaming western sanctions linked to the war for slowing its food and fertiliser exports, and Ukraine for mining the approaches to its ports.
But the invasion has stoked food and energy price inflation, driving some 47 million people into "acute hunger," the World Food Programme has said.
Ukraine laid the mines as part of its war defence, but under the deal pilots will guide ships through safe channels.
There was no sign of a let-up in fighting as the war entered its sixth month on Sunday.
While the main theatre of combat has been the eastern region of Donbas, Mr Zelenskyy said in video posted late on Saturday that Ukrainian forces were moving "step by step" into the occupied eastern Black Sea region of Kherson.
The Ukrainian military reported Russian shelling in the north, south and east, and again referred to Russian operations paving the way for an assault on Bakhmut in the Donbas region in the east.
The air force command said its forces had early on Sunday shot down three Russian Kalibr cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea and aimed at the western Khmelnytskiy region.
As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags into its sixth month, there was talk of more weapons being donated to Kyiv.
The head of the US House Armed Services Committee said the US and its allies could provide as many as 25 to 30 multiple-launch rocket launch systems to Ukraine, including ones already sent.
Representative Adam Smith outlined the plans to US-government operated Radio Free Europe. The US HIMARS and similar systems have been effect in targeting Russian arms depots and other targets in recent weeks.
Ukraine has requested at least 50 of the systems for defence and more for offensive operations. The US has delivered a dozen and approved four more in a new $270 million (£224 million) military aid package announced Friday. “It is not a fact that our arsenal has 50 of these units,” Mr Smith said.
Bridget Brink, the US ambassador to Ukraine, said assistance would continue “for as long as it takes.”
Meanwhile, the closure of the Jewish Agency’s office in Russia would be a serious event that would affect Israel’s relations with Moscow, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said.
Russian authorities last week asked a Moscow court to liquidate a prominent group handling the emigration of Jews to Israel. A preliminary hearing is set for Thursday.
When is VAR used?
• Goals
• Penalty decisions
• Direct red-card incidents
• Mistaken identity
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Copa del Rey
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
The biog
Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Favourite holiday destination: Spain
Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody
Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa
Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
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%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Key figures in the life of the fort
Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.
Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.
Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.
Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.
Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.
Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.
Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.
Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The candidates
Dr Ayham Ammora, scientist and business executive
Ali Azeem, business leader
Tony Booth, professor of education
Lord Browne, former BP chief executive
Dr Mohamed El-Erian, economist
Professor Wyn Evans, astrophysicist
Dr Mark Mann, scientist
Gina MIller, anti-Brexit campaigner
Lord Smith, former Cabinet minister
Sandi Toksvig, broadcaster
Top tips to avoid cyber fraud
Microsoft’s ‘hacker-in-chief’ David Weston, creator of the tech company’s Windows Red Team, advises simple steps to help people avoid falling victim to cyber fraud:
1. Always get the latest operating system on your smartphone or desktop, as it will have the latest innovations. An outdated OS can erode away all investments made in securing your device or system.
2. After installing the latest OS version, keep it patched; this means repairing system vulnerabilities which are discovered after the infrastructure components are released in the market. The vast majority of attacks are based on out of date components – there are missing patches.
3. Multi-factor authentication is required. Move away from passwords as fast as possible, particularly for anything financial. Cybercriminals are targeting money through compromising the users’ identity – his username and password. So, get on the next level of security using fingertips or facial recognition.
4. Move your personal as well as professional data to the cloud, which has advanced threat detection mechanisms and analytics to spot any attempt. Even if you are hit by some ransomware, the chances of restoring the stolen data are higher because everything is backed up.
5. Make the right hardware selection and always refresh it. We are in a time where a number of security improvement processes are reliant on new processors and chip sets that come with embedded security features. Buy a new personal computer with a trusted computing module that has fingerprint or biometric cameras as additional measures of protection.
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
UAE Rugby finals day
Games being played at The Sevens, Dubai
2pm, UAE Conference final
Dubai Tigers v Al Ain Amblers
4pm, UAE Premiership final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
