The head of the United Nations said he was "deeply concerned" by Russia's decision to suspend its participation in a U.N.-brokered grain deal and delayed a foreign visit to try to revive the agreement, which aims to ease a global food crisis.

Moscow halted its role in the Black Sea deal on Saturday, effectively cutting shipments from Ukraine, one of the world's top grain exporters. It said it was responding to what it called a major Ukrainian drone attack earlier in the day on its fleet near the port of Sevastopol in Russian-annexed Crimea.

Russia pulled out of a key United Nations-brokered grain deal, provoking international outrage and dealing a blow to attempts to ease a global food crisis triggered by Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

On Saturday Moscow said it was suspending participation in the Black Sea deal, which has sought to avert famine and tame inflation, in response to what it called a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet. In a conflict that began in February, Russia calls its actions in Ukraine "a special operation."

Russia on Saturday suspended participation in a U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal after what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Crimea, dealing a blow to attempts to ease the global food crisis.

Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine attacked the Black Sea Fleet near Sevastopol on the annexed Crimean peninsular with 16 drones in the early hours of Saturday, and that British navy "specialists" had helped coordinate the "terrorist" attack.

Aid groups are again sounding the alarm over the worsening humanitarian disaster in Somalia, which is facing famine on a scale not seen in half a century. One child is hospitalized for malnutrition every minute, according to UNICEF. The U.N. says over $2 billion in aid is needed to help fight the catastrophic effects of the ongoing drought as the region appears to be in the throes of its fifth consecutive failed rainy season. The situation has spurred a mass displacement crisis. This is Falhad Hussein, a displaced Somali mother and street vendor.

U.S. President Joe Biden accused Russia on Wednesday of violating the core tenets of membership in the United Nations by invading Ukraine and said Moscow was making "irresponsible" threats to use nuclear weapons.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Biden slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin for starting an unprovoked war that some 40 U.N. members are helping Ukraine fight with funding and weapons.

President Joe Biden declared at the United Nations Wednesday that Russia has “shamelessly violated the core tenets” of the U.N with its “brutal, needless war” in Ukraine. He said the war is an affront to the heart of what the international body stands for as he looked to rally allies to stand firm in backing the Ukrainian resistance.

President Biden accused Russia of an "extremely significant" violation of the United Nations international charter in its "brutal, needless war" against Ukraine, delivering harsh words directed to Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying the war was "chosen by one man."

Biden, speaking to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City Wednesday, reflected on the past year.

The United States is stepping up to buy about 150,000 metric tons of grain from Ukraine in the next few weeks for an upcoming shipment of food aid from ports no longer blockaded by war, the World Food Program chief has told The Associated Press.

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, was involved in a 2018 grain export deal between China and Ukraine, according to a report. 

On a morning hot enough to curdle milk in Ukraine's second city, a few dozen hopefuls bat away wasps as they queue to get their hands on food aid.

They are taking a risk congregating outdoors in Kharkiv, where they can be targeted by Russian artillery fire, but it is the hours-long wait that is troubling them, not the danger.

"People don't think about what could happen because they just want their food," says government volunteer Maxim Gridasov, 45, as he distributes parcels in the Nemyshlyansky neighbourhood.