Security high in Ukrainian port city that is a lifeline to Kenya, other Africa countries

Church personnel inspect damages inside the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa, Ukraine, Sunday, July 23, 2023, following Russian missile attacks. [AP Photo]

We confirm this as we head to the Odesa port that has suffered Russian missiles upwards of 20. Here, along the seaside, you do not film, you don't access that facility while carrying a phone, or a camera - only a sound recorder. The kind of journalism allowed here was through observation and interviews with Ukrainian State officials and video footage plus pictures shared by authorities. All these in the name of protecting Odesa, officials say.

After accessing the port, we walk to the front of what was The Odesa Port Hotel perched on the cold beach of the Black sea, now a shell of its former self. It was hit by a Russian missile two months ago.

Many attacks

The Deputy CEO of Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority Dmytro Barinov, whose mandate is to ensure that the Odesa Port is functional and that grain and other cargo leave Ukraine to parts of the world, says the hotel was damaged in one of the many attacks in the last four months.

"The September attack damaged the whole hotel as you can see," says Barinov

"One terminal of the port was also damaged. That terminal was among the ones used as part of the Grain Initiative within the Black Sea corridor to send grain across the world, including African countries," he says.

The Grain Initiative was organised by Turkish authorities with the help of the United Nations where Russia signed a deal - now called The Black Sea Grain Initiative - that allowed a sea corridor three miles wide where ships would access Ukrainian ports, including Odesa, to carry cargo to parts of the world. However, as Ukrainian officials say, Russia has been going against the deal through numerous unpredictable war antics, including night shelling.

"Most of the vessels using that corridor were going to the ports of Africa to take grain there," says Barinov. "But now and again, the Russian army scares away the cargo ships through military exercises in the Black Sea to show their might."

The ministry of Infrastructure that runs Ukrainian ports said in a statement that in a span of four months alone - between July 17, 2023, and November - there were 23 attacks on port infrastructure in the Odesa region alone.

"The Odesa seaport has been attacked seven times," said the ministry's press office in a statement to The Standard.

Grain silos stand in the port of Odesa, Ukraine, on the Black Sea. [AP photo]

"That initiative allowed us to transport 32 million tonnes of grain to parts of the world, including Africa. After Russia saw that the deal was good to us, benefiting us, it started thinking about withdrawing from the deal," said Zelensky. " In my recent meeting with presidents from six African countries that came here, I insisted that as soon as Russian withdraws from the deal, grain will no longer leave our ports and prices of food commodities will skyrocket by 200-300 per cent."

The value of the Odesa ports to Ukraine's trade overseas remains key even as Russia plays its cat and mouse war on it. Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement that even during the war, the countries of the world that benefit from Ukrainian sea ports owing to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, included emerging powers such as China which has received 8 million tonnes. Others are Spain 6 million tonnes and Turkey 3.2 million tonnes. Besides that, another 42 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe received grain through the Odesa ports.

Russia's interference therefore disrupted such volume of supply during the ongoing conflict. But after temporary traffic routes had been declared, the main export destinations received less grain than before where China received 2.1 million tonnes, Spain 1.4 million tonnes and Egypt 0.5 million tonnes. Through the temporary routes, Ukraine was able to deliver to 16 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe. The ministry did not however reveal the countries.

Odesa is also an important cultural centre with several UNESCO sites which have suffered from Russia's brutality. On January 25, the UNESCO Heritage Committee named its historic city a World Heritage site and included it to the World endangered heritage sites. That was in recognition of Odesa's influence on cinema, literature, and the arts.

Soft side

The Russian military has not spared this soft side of Odesa. In July, it launched its missiles that shelled some Odesa museums, including the Odesa Archaeological Museum, the Odesa Maritime Museum and the Odesa Literature Museum, UNESCO official have claimed.

Odesa has recorded 28 civilian deaths and more than a 10 injured between February 2022 and September 2023 as a result of the Russian strikes, with much higher numbers of casualties in the larger Odesa region.