'Russia is holding global food security hostage' — Ukraine calls emergency UN session as Moscow bombs Black Sea ports

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on July 22 called on the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting due to Russia's continued attacks on civilian shipping in the Black Sea.

Kyiv requested an urgent session be held on July 27, following a string of Russian strikes on civilian vessels.

"Russia is holding global food security hostage," Sybiha wrote on X.

"At least three civilian cargo ships have been bombed in the past few days by Russia. ...  Today, zero vessels passed through Ukraine's Black Sea maritime corridor — right at peak harvest."

The minister's request came on the same day that the Danish shipping giant Maersk announced it was suspending service to Ukraine via the Chornomorsk port due to the heightened risks of attacks in the area. The company said in a statement that its cargoes would be rerouted to a port in Constanta, Romania.

Earlier on July 22, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed its drones hit two dry cargo ships in Ukraine's Odesa and Chornomorsk ports. Russia alleged that the vessels were transporting military supplies.

Ukraine's State Border Service, however, reported that its Maritime Guard rescued crew members of the bulk carrier Golden Rose, registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis, after the vessel was set ablaze by a Russian drone.

Other recent attacks have hit foreign-flagged ships carrying grain and fertilizers.

Three Russian Kh-59/Kh-69 cruise missiles struck the cargo ship Golden Leo as it was leaving Ukraine's Black Sea maritime corridor with a load of grain on July 19, according to the Ukrainian Navy. Ten people were killed in the attack.

The unarmed civilian vessel, owned by a Turkish company, was sailing under the Guinea-Bissau flag when it came under Russian missile fire.

Less than a week before that, two people were killed in a Russian strike on a civilian cargo ship in the port of Odesa on July 14. It was the second deadly Russian attack on foreign vessels in the Odesa port in 48 hours: The day before, on July 13, five people were killed and 10 injured when Russia attacked a Togolese-flagged cargo ship as it was unloading mineral fertilizers.

In his appeal to the international community, Sybiha warned that Russia's attacks on Black Sea shipping lanes posed serious threats to food supplies across the world.

"Millions of families across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America may face rising prices and hunger if this terror continues," he said.

"Ukraine has requested an urgent U.N. Security Council meeting for July 27th. We urge all states, particularly those affected, to immediately demand Russia stop its attacks on freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. No country has the right to starve the world. Global pressure can stop Russian terror."

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine's Black Sea port infrastructure and commercial shipping since the start of the full-scale invasion, despite the reopening of a maritime export corridor that has allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports.

Ukrainian officials have continued to sound the alarm about the danger these attacks pose to global food security and freedom of navigation in the Black Sea.