Russian strike kills major Ukraine grain exporter

Russia pounded Ukrainian cities days before the first grain-loaded ships are set to leave port as part of a deal signed between Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, and the UN.

One of the hardest-hit towns was Mykolaiv – the city which is the center for coordination of the counteroffensive launched by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to free its occupied ports. One of the rockets landed in the house of the agriculture magnet Oleksiy Vadatursky. The 74-year-old businessperson and his wife Raisa were killed in the strike, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim said on the messaging app Telegram.

Vadatursky, Ukraine’s 24th richest person, owned the major grain exporter “Nibulon” and had a fortune worth $430 million according to Forbes. He was also decorated with the “Hero of Ukraine” award.

Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that the killing of Vadatursky was "not an accident but a well-planned and organized deliberate murder.”

President Zelensky also addressed the issue in his daily brief. He offered his condolences to the relatives and friends of the couple.

It is exactly such people, such companies, our Ukrainian south that have guaranteed the world's food security. It has always been so. And it will be so again. The Russian terrorists should not even hope that they will be able to destroy the social and industrial potential of Ukraine and walk through the ruins.

The death of one of Ukraine’s biggest grain exporters comes as the country is preparing to begin operations as part of the four-way agreement signed in Istanbul.

Three Ukrainian ports are designated as part of the deal. Two of those are in Russian-occupied territories, leaving Ukraine with only one port to conduct its export operations.