![A grain ship sails past the Istanbul skyline on the Bosphorus - UK planes protecting Ukraine ships from Russian attack after grain deal collapse](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/09/07/TELEMMGLPICT000315065362_16941067011170_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqwV-8WoS_tWKjVWeS7sRIj5x0XFVDjNA-v0HcLknofys.jpeg?imwidth=680)
UK planes protecting Ukraine ships from Russian attack after grain deal collapse
RAF is conducting patrols over the Black Sea to deter Putin from carrying out attacks on civilian vessels carrying grain exports
![A grain ship sails past the Istanbul skyline on the Bosphorus - UK planes protecting Ukraine ships from Russian attack after grain deal collapse](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/news/2023/09/07/TELEMMGLPICT000315065362_16941067011170_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqwV-8WoS_tWKjVWeS7sRIj5x0XFVDjNA-v0HcLknofys.jpeg?imwidth=680)
RAF aircraft are protecting cargo vessels carrying grain from Ukraine, following Russian attacks, Downing Street has revealed.
In recent weeks, British aircraft have been conducting patrols over the Black Sea to deter Russia from carrying out strikes on civilian vessels.
The Ministry of Defence stepped up its activity in the area after Moscow began attacking grain infrastructure in July, when it scrapped a deal that allowed Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports.
Grain from the Black Sea region is considered vital for staving off hunger in lower-income countries. Russia said it had pulled out of the deal because Ukraine refused to reopen an ammonia pipeline that runs from central Russia to the Black Sea.
Downing Street said: “We will use our intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance to monitor Russian activity in the Black Sea … As part of these surveillance operations, RAF aircraft are conducting flights over the area to deter Russia from carrying out illegal strikes against civilian vessels transporting grain.”
The disclosure came as the Government announced that the UK will host an international food security summit in November “to tackle the causes of food insecurity and malnutrition.”
‘The G20 will work together against Putin’
The issue is expected to feature at the G20 summit in Delhi, which Rishi Sunak is attending this weekend.
The Prime Minister said: “Once again, Vladimir Putin is failing to show his face at the G20. He is the architect of his own diplomatic exile, isolating himself in his presidential palace and blocking out criticism and reality.
“The rest of the G20, meanwhile, are demonstrating that we will turn up and work together to pick up the pieces of Putin’s destruction.
“That starts with dealing with the terrible global consequences of Putin’s stranglehold over the most fundamental resources, including his blockade of and attacks on Ukrainian grain.”