Russia says Ukrainian attacks are pushing up global food prices, causing grain shortages

MOSCOW, Aug. 12 (Reuters) - Russia said on Wednesday that Ukrainian strikes on its grain and agricultural infrastructure were pushing up global food prices and exacerbating grain shortages, something it said served the interests of some Western countries.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made her comments in a statement issued after a wave of Ukrainian strikes on Russia's Black Sea port of Novorossiysk which killed three, including a child, and forced major grain terminals in the city to stop working.

Zakharova said: "It is evident that the Kyiv regime’s cynical military campaign to incite chaos in the global food market ... serves the interests of certain Western nations."

"All this exacerbates the shortage of grain and fertilisers, fuels the rise in global food prices, and increases the burden on the countries of the Global South and East, which are being held hostage by the irresponsible policies of the aforementioned ‘players’," Zakharova said.

Ukraine has this summer escalated its strikes on Russian economic infrastructure it says underpins Moscow's military campaign against it, including striking agricultural export infrastructure. Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter.

Russian strikes on ships in the Black Sea have also drastically reduced grain shipments from Ukraine, which is also a major grain exporter. Shipments tumbled 76% in the first two weeks of August, versus the same period last year, Ukraine's agriculture ministry said.

Grain futures spiked on Wednesday after the Ukrainian strikes on Novorossiysk.