Russia pounds Ukraine's grain, UN warns of hunger from price rises

A view shows a grain warehouse destroyed by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at a compound of an agricultural company in Odesa region, Ukraine July 21, 2023. Press Service of the the Operational Command South of the Ukrainian Armed Forces/Handout via REUTERS

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia pounded Ukrainian food export facilities for a fourth day in a row on Friday and practised seizing ships in the Black Sea in an escalation of what Western leaders say is an attempt to wriggle out of sanctions by threatening a global food crisis.

The attacks on Ukraine's grain, a major part of the global food chain, followed a vow by Kyiv to defy Russia's naval blockade on its export ports after Moscow's withdrawal this week from a UN-brokered safe sea corridor agreement.