Russia’s Defence Ministry claims they do not guarantee safety of "grain corridor"

The Defence Ministry of Russia has stated that it is suspending movement through a so-called grain corridor that is used for exporting grain from Ukraine. 

Source: Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation on Telegram

Quote: "Until the situation with a terrorist attack, carried out by Ukraine on 29 October of this year, against combat vessels and civilian ships in the city of Sevastopol is clarified, the movement through a safety corridor, defined by the Black Sea Initiative, is suspended."

Details: The Ministry has added that Russia is not "leaving" the agreement, but "suspending" it.

Quote: "In this regard, the movement of ships through the safety corridor is unacceptable as the Ukrainian government and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use it to conduct military actions against the Russian Federation. 

In such conditions, there can be no talk about safety guarantees for any object in this direction until the Ukrainian side accepts additional obligations to not use this route for military purposes."

More details: The Ministry of Defence has explained that, since UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is a mediator in these agreements, the Ministry has conveyed its stance to him and the UN Security Council. 

Quote: "We are counting on the contribution of the international organisation to get guarantees from Ukraine on non-use of humanitarian corridors and Ukrainian ports, defined in order to export agricultural products, to conduct military actions against the Russian Federation."

Background:

• On 29 October, explosions rang out in the occupied city of Sevastopol on the Crimean peninsula. The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly attacked Sevastopol on 29 October at 4:00. Russia confirmed that the sea trawler Ivan Golubets was damaged.  
• Later, it became known that at least three ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, including the Admiral Makarov flagship, were damaged as a result of the unmanned surface vessel [USV] attack on 29 October.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, have called Russia’s statements about USVs being launched from a civilian ship, used within the framework of the Black Sea initiative, in order to attack vessels of the Black Sea Fleet on 29 October a nonsense. 
• On 31 October, it became known the Russian military attacked two port civilian tugboats that were involved in the transportation of a barge with grain on the Ochakiv front [Ukraine’s south]. As a result, two people died, one wounded person was rescued, and the fate of another crew member is unknown.

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