KYIV, July 31 (Reuters) – Heavy Russian strikes hit the port city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine overnight from Sunday to Sunday morning, killing the owner of one of the largest production companies and export of grain from the country, said the local governor.

Oleksiy Vadatursky, founder and owner of the Nibulon agricultural company, and his wife were killed in their home, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said on Telegram.

Based in Mykolaiv, a strategically important city that borders the mainly Russian-occupied Kherson region, Nibulon specializes in the production and export of wheat, barley and corn, and has its own fleet and shipyard. .

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described Vadatursky’s death as “a great loss for all of Ukraine”, saying the businessman was building a modern grain market involving a network of transshipment terminals and elevators .

Three people were also injured in the attacks on Mikolaiv, the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Senkevych, told Ukrainian television, adding that 12 missiles hit homes and educational institutions. He previously described the strikes as “probably the most powerful” on the city in the entire five-month war.

Up to 50 Grad rockets hit residential areas in the southern city of Nikopol on Sunday morning, Dnipropetrovsk Governor Valentyn Reznichenko wrote on Telegram. One person was injured.

Ukrainian forces struck the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Russian-controlled Sevastopol early on Sunday, the governor of the Crimean port city, Mikhail Razvozhayev, told Russian media. Five staff members were injured in the attack when what was believed to be a drone flew into the courtyard of the headquarters, he said.

Reuters could not independently verify reports from the battlefield.

The Sevastopol attack coincided with Russian Navy Day, which President Vladimir Putin marked by announcing that the navy would receive what he called “tremendous” Zircon hypersonic cruise missiles in the coming months. These missiles can travel at nine times the speed of sound. Read more

He did not mention the conflict in Ukraine during a speech after signing a new naval doctrine that makes the United States Russia’s main rival and defines Russia’s global maritime ambitions for crucial areas such as the Arctic and the Black Sea.

Putin sent tens of thousands of troops across the border on February 24, sparking a conflict that has killed thousands, uprooted millions and deeply strained relations between Russia and the West.

Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II has also fueled an energy and food crisis that is rocking the global economy. Ukraine and Russia are the main grain suppliers.

THE HARVEST COULD BE HALVED

Zelenskiy said on Sunday that the country may only harvest half of its usual amount this year due to the invasion.

“The Ukrainian harvest this year is threatened with being half as much,” suggesting half the usual amount, Zelenskiy wrote in English on Twitter. “Our main objective – to prevent the global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion. Grain always finds a way to be delivered alternatively,” he added.

Ukraine is struggling to get its products to buyers through its Black Sea ports because of the war.

But an agreement signed under the aegis of the UN and Turkey on July 22 provides safe passage for ships carrying grain from three ports in southern Ukraine.

It is highly likely that the first grain export ship will leave Ukrainian ports on Monday, a spokesman for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday. Read more

DANGER IS

Zelenskiy on Saturday night who said hundreds of thousands of people were still at risk of heavy fighting in the Donbass region, which includes Donetsk and Luhansk provinces and which Russia is seeking complete control. Slices of Donbass were held before the invasion by Russian-backed separatists.

“Many refuse to leave but it still needs to be done,” Zelenskiy said. “The more people who leave the Donetsk region now, the less the Russian army will have time to kill.”

Russia announced on Sunday that it had invited UN and Red Cross experts to investigate the deaths of dozens of Ukrainian prisoners held by Moscow-backed separatists.

Ukraine and Russia have swapped accusations over a missile strike or explosion early on Friday that appears to have killed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the frontline town of Olenivka in eastern Donetsk.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday condemned the attack and said it had not yet received permission to visit the site, while adding that it was not its mandate to visit the site. publicly investigate alleged war crimes.

“Families need to receive urgent news and answers about what happened to their loved ones,” he said in a statement. “The parties must do everything in their power, including through impartial investigations, to help determine the facts behind the attack and provide clarification on this matter.” Read more

The Russian Defense Ministry released a list of 50 Ukrainian prisoners of war killed and 73 wounded in what it called a Ukrainian military attack with American-made artillery.

Ukraine’s armed forces have denied responsibility, saying Russian artillery attacked the prison to hide the mistreatment there.

Reuters reporters confirmed some of the deaths at the prison, but could not immediately verify the different versions of events.

Russia denies that its forces deliberately attacked civilians or committed war crimes during the invasion, which it calls a “special operation”.

Reporting from Reuters offices Writing for Lincoln Feast and William Maclean Editing by William Mallard, Frances Kerry and Tomasz Janowski

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