After a grain transaction, Zelenskiy criticizes Russian "barbarism" for the attack on the Odesa port.

After missiles struck the southern port of Odesa, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused Russia of "barbarism" and threatened a deal that had just been reached to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and alleviate the world's food shortages brought on by the conflict.

Just 12 hours after Moscow and Kyiv agreed to an agreement for controlled grain exports from Ukraine's southern ports, Russia launched cruise missile attacks on Odesa, through which the cargoes would pass.

Zelensky referred to the assault as blatant "barbarism," demonstrating that Moscow could not be trusted to carry out the agreement.

In a meeting with US lawmakers, he reportedly said, "This proves just one thing: no matter what Russia says and pledges, it will find ways not to do it."

One of the missiles was seen bursting in the port area in eyewitness video that was captured and shared on social media. It happened behind rows of containers and not far from a ship that was docked.

The United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Britain, Germany, and Italy all strongly condemned the attacks against Odesa.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that "this attack seriously calls into question Russia's commitment to yesterday's settlement."

He went on to say that Russia "bears responsibility for escalating the global food crisis and must cease its aggressiveness."

Hours after the agreement was struck, the British Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, called the attack "appalling," calling it "totally unnecessary" and evidence that Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, could not be trusted.

Russian officials allegedly assured Ankara that Moscow had "nothing to do" with the strikes, according to Turkey's military minister. Both the evening military report and the Russian defense ministry's comments failed to include missile attacks in Odesa. A Reuters inquiry for comment received no response from the ministry.

UN representatives expressed hope that the deal will be operational in a few weeks on Friday. The grain storage area at the port remained unaffected, according to Ukraine's southern military command, as reported by public radio Suspilne.

"Sadly, there are injuries. The infrastructure of the port was harmed, according to Maksym Marchenko, governor of the Odesa region.

On Facebook, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the minister of infrastructure, however, said that "we continue technical preparations for the commencement of exports of agricultural products from our ports."

Russia and Ukraine are significant global exporters of wheat, and the conflict has caused food prices to skyrocket. The World Food Programme estimates that a global food crisis has caused "acute hunger" to affect 47 million people.

By introducing additional wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer, and other products into the global market, particularly for humanitarian needs, partially at cheaper costs, Friday's agreement aims to prevent famine in poorer nations.