Zelenskiy blasts Russian 'barbarism' over the raid on the Odesa port hours after a grain deal.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has accused Russia of "barbarism" after missiles struck the southern port of Odesa, jeopardizing a deal negotiated just a day earlier to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports and alleviate global food shortages caused by the war.

Only 12 hours after Moscow agreed with Kyiv to allow monitored grain exports from Ukraine's southern ports, Russia launched cruise missile strikes on Odesa, the port through which the cargoes would pass.

Zelensky described the attack as "blatant brutality," demonstrating that Moscow could not be trusted to carry out the agreement.

"This demonstrates just one thing: no matter what Russia says and pledges, it will find ways not to do it," he said during a meeting with US congressmen, according to a presidential statement.

One of the missiles exploded close to the beachfront behind rows of containers and not far from a docked ship, according to eyewitness footage posted on social media.

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

In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "this action casts considerable doubt on Russia's commitment to yesterday's settlement."

"Russia shares responsibility for exacerbating the global food crisis and must halt its aggressiveness," he continued.

The British foreign minister, Liz Truss, said the "appalling" attack, which occurred hours after the agreement was signed, was "totally unnecessary" and demonstrated that Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, could not be trusted.

According to Turkey's defense minister, Russian officials told Ankara that Moscow had "absolutely nothing to do" with the strikes. Neither the Russian defense ministry's announcements nor the military's evening summary acknowledged the Odesa missile strikes. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

On Friday, UN officials expressed optimism that the deal will be operational within a few weeks. According to Ukraine's southern military command, the port's grain storage area was not affected, according to public radio Suspilne.

"Unfortunately, there are casualties. "The infrastructure of the port was damaged," stated Odesa region governor Maksym Marchenko.

However, Oleksandr Kubrakov, the infrastructure minister, stated on Facebook that "we continue technical preparations for the beginning of agricultural commodity exports from our ports."

Russia and Ukraine are major worldwide wheat suppliers, and the war has caused food prices to skyrocket. According to the World Food Programme, a global food crisis has forced 47 million people into "acute famine."

The agreement reached on Friday aims to avert starvation in poorer nations by introducing more wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer, and other products into global markets, particularly for humanitarian purposes, at cheaper costs.