Putin holds cruise missile drills in Black Sea after warning that ships delivering cargo to Ukraine are ‘legitimate targets’ since grain deal was scrapped

Russia has held missile war games in the Black Sea after Vladimir Putin threatened to sink ships delivering cargo to Ukraine.

The live firing drills involving anti-ship cruise missiles were conducted from the Ivanovets warship.

A target ship was destroyed in the north-west of the Black Sea, the Kremlin said.

The exercises were held after Russia again blitzed Ukrainian grain and agricultural warehouses linked to exports.

The strikes come after Moscow had failed to renew a grain deal permitting Ukraine to export produce to the poorest countries of the world amid the ongoing war.

Russia held missile war games in the Black Sea as Vladimir Putin threatens to sink ships delivering cargo to Ukraine

The live firing drills involving anti-ship cruise missiles were conducted from the Ivanovets warship

Putin has been accused of using food as a weapon of war. Russia this week announced it will now consider all ships heading to Ukrainian ports as possible carriers of military cargo.

As such, they will be seen as war targets, in a sinister escalation of the war.

Naval spokesman Alexander Sakharov said: ‘Today in the Black Sea, as part of an attack missile group of two boats, exercises were conducted to deliver a missile strike against a mock enemy.

‘During the drills, an exercise was performed using cruise missiles. The shooting was successful. The enemy was destroyed.’

The drills also involved use of fleet aviation ‘to isolate the area temporarily closed to navigation’ and carry out ‘measures to stop’ vessels failing to obey Russian orders in the open sea.

Moscow has declared several maritime areas in the northwestern and southeastern parts of the international waters of the Black Sea ‘temporarily dangerous for navigation’.

Russian missile strikes overnight targeted grain warehouses at an agricultural company in Odessa region, injuring two people, said Serhii Bratchuk, spokesperson for the Odessa military administration.

Putin (pictured yesterday) has been accused of using food as a weapon of war after scrapping the grain deal

Russia said the target ship was ‘destroyed’ in the northwestern section of the Black Sea

Russia warned that ships containing cargo for Ukraine are ‘legitimate targets’

It is another sinister escalation of the war against Ukraine – seeing all ships containing cargo as war targets

A still image from a video, released by Russia’s Defence Ministry, shows what it said to be the guided missile ship Ivanovets during drills in the Black Sea

‘At dawn, the Russians fired Kalibr-type missiles from the missile carrier, which was put on duty in the Black Sea at night,’ he said.

‘Unfortunately, grain terminals of one of the agricultural enterprises of the Odessa region were hit.

‘The enemy destroyed 100 tons of peas and 20 tons of barley.’

Ukraine responded that it will consider ships delivering cargo to Russia as being military-linked.