Who was Oleksiy Vadatursky? Ukraine's grain tycoon and wife Raisa killed by Russian missiles
Russian missile strikes killed the owner of a significant grain exporter in the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv on Sunday, July 31. Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim revealed on Telegram that Oleksiy Vadatursky, the founder and owner of the agricultural enterprise Nibulon, and his wife Raisa Vadatursky were killed in their house. Nibulon is a company specializing in producing and exporting wheat, barley, and corn. It is headquartered in Mykolaiv, a strategically significant city that borders the largely Russian-occupied Kherson region. Nibulon also has its own fleet and dock.
Oleksandr Senkevych, the mayor of Mykolaiv, said more than a dozen missile strikes were perhaps the most powerful on the city in five months of the war, damaging residences and schools, with at least three other people wounded. He stated that strikes had resumed on Sunday night, but no data on casualties or property damage was available. The death of grain tycoon Vadatursky was referred to by the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as ‘a great loss for all of Ukraine.’ Zelenskyy stated that the businessman has been creating a contemporary grain market with a network of transshipment terminals and elevators. Forbes estimated that the businessman's net worth in 2021 would be $430 million, making him one of Ukraine's richest people.
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“It is these people, these companies, precisely the south of Ukraine, which has guaranteed the world’s food security. This was always so. And it will be so once again. Our people, our capabilities, are surely more powerful than any Russian missiles or shells.” Zelenskyy added while referring to the social and industrial capacity of Ukraine. A food and energy crisis that is rocking the world economy has been sparked by the largest conflict in Europe since World War Two. Russia and Ukraine are both major grain suppliers. Zelenskyy added on Sunday, July 31, that because of the invasion, Ukraine might only harvest half as much, as usual, this year. Zelenskyy tweeted, “Ukrainian harvest this year is under the threat to be twice less. Our main goal — is to prevent the global food crisis caused by the Russian invasion. Still, grains find a way to be delivered alternatively.”
According to Daily Mail, the ongoing war has also made it difficult for Ukraine to export its goods through its Black Sea ports. However, a deal struck on July 22 between Turkey and the United Nations guarantees the safe transit of ships carrying grain out of three ports in southern Ukraine. According to a representative for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there is a good chance that the first ship transporting grains will depart Ukraine's ports on Monday, August 1.
Meanwhile, according to The New York Times, the Russian military shelled the northern border of Sumy seven times in other parts of Ukraine, according to the governor of Sumy, Dmytro Zhyvjtsky. On Sunday morning, July 31, up to 50 Grad rockets struck residential neighborhoods in the southern city of Nikopol, according to a Telegram message from Dnipropetrovsk Governor Valentyn Reznichenko. On February 24, Putin moved tens of thousands of troops across the border, sparking a battle that has resulted in hundreds of deaths, millions of displaced people, and severely strained relations between Russia and the West.
