On Sunday, Russian missiles struck Ukraine's southern port city of Mykolaiv, killing the owner of a major grain exporter.
Oleksiy Vadatursky, 74, was a prominent tycoon in the Ukrainian grain industry, owning and operating exporting company Nibulon. He was ranked as the 24th richest person in the country and was at one point the recipient of the "Hero of Ukraine" award.
Headquartered in Mykolaiv, a strategically important city that borders the mostly Russian-occupied Kherson region, Nibulon specializes in the production and export of wheat, barley and corn, and has its own fleet and shipyard.
One politician claims that it was a targeted attack. Mykhailo Podolyak, a Ukrainian journalist turned politician and adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke about Vadatursky's death, insisting that he was killed in a targeted attack. As evidence, he cited the fact that a missile directly struck the bedroom he was sleeping in.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky described Mr Vadatursky's death as a great loss.
Mykolaiv mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said it was probably the heaviest Russian bombardment of the city so far.
There was damage to a hotel, a sports complex, two schools and a service station, as well as homes.
Mykolaiv is on the main route to Odesa, Ukraine's biggest port on the Black Sea, and has been hit repeatedly since Russia launched its invasion on 24 February.
Ukraine has struggled to get its product to buyers via its Black Sea ports because of the war.
But an agreement signed under the stewardship of the United Nations and Turkey on July 22 provides for safe passage for ships carrying grain out of three southern Ukrainian ports.
There is a high possibility that the first grain-exporting ship will leave Ukraine’s ports on Monday, a spokesperson for Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday.
