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Ukraine plays a crucial role in the global food supply chain, exporting wheat and other cereals to countries around the world. This is why the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports is so harmful and why on Monday eu foreign policy chief Josep Borell called it a "real war crime".
Speaking to the African Union, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Africa a "hostage" to Russia's war, due to the effect of rising food prices on the continent.
World leaders are considering alternative ways to export food from Ukraine, including roads and railways, but it will be difficult to make up for the shortage caused by the ship-blocking to leave Ukraine's Black Sea ports.
On the ground, the head of Russia-controlled Crimea said Ukrainian forces had hit several offshore drilling platforms on the peninsula - in what would be the first such attack since the start of the war.
The rigs belong to a Crimean oil and gas company, which was taken from Ukraine by the Russians during the annexation of the peninsula in 2014.
Russian troops continue to make progress, despite an assessment by the UK defence ministry, which says the Russian air force is "performing poorly" and that Russia is running out of advanced missile reserves.
Russian shelling has been added to the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that Russia would intensify its attacks in the days before European leaders decide on granting the country's EU candidate status.