UKRAINE: According to recent reports, the owner of one of Ukraine’s largest grain producers and exporters and his wife were killed in a Russian missile attack which hit the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv.
News agency AFP reported that seventy-four-year-old Oleksiy Vadatursky- founder and owner of a giant agricultural company called Nibulon- along with his wife Raisa were killed in their home overnight on Sunday. The notification was posted by Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim via telegram.
Nibulon which is established in a strategic location- bordering the Russia-occupied Kherson region- deals in the production and export of wheat, corn, barley and other valuable grains, and exports these items using their fleet and shipyard.
The city also happens to lie on the main route to Odesa port, which is Ukraine’s biggest port on the Black Sea. The region has been cleverly targeted and persistently attacked in the past few months ever since Russia unleashed its “special military operation” on Ukraine on February 24.
Governor Kim also stressed the “invaluable” contribution of the deceased grain magnate to the grain economy of the country beset with war and rebellion.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also issued a statement, mourning the death of the businessman as “a great loss for all Ukraine”. Moreover, he added that Vadatursky had been in the talks of improving the grain market with newer technologies- involving a network of transshipment terminals and elevators.
Rumour has it, that the attack may have been deliberately planned and conveniently targeted at a specific individual whose death would compromise the faltering grain market. On Sunday, Zelensky said that the country may only be able to produce half its capacity due to continuous attacks.
The two warring nations had previously signed an UN-brokered grain deal in Turkey last week, which ultimately went down the drain the next day as Russia advanced to attack Odesa port. Moreover, Ukraine has also suffered setbacks due to logistical issues and security checks. But on Sunday, Turkey assured that the first grain shipment was to leave Odesa on Monday morning.
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