- First Ukrainian grain ship bound for Lebanon
- Turkey says more ships will follow
- Russian missiles arrive at the port of Mykolaiv
- Ukrainian grain magnate Oleksiy Vadatursky killed in Mykolaiv
- Putin’s maritime ambitions include the Black Sea, the Arctic
KYIV, Aug 1 (Reuters) – A ship carrying grain left the Ukrainian port of Odesa for foreign markets on Monday under a safe passage agreement, a Ukrainian minister said, the first departure since the Russian invasion blocked shipping across the Black Sea five months ago. .
The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations negotiated a grain and fertilizer export deal between Russia and Ukraine last month.
“The first grain ship since the #RussianAggression has left the port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries and @UN we were able to fully implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul,” said Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov in Twitter.
Sign up now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
The Turkish Defense Minister earlier said the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which is carrying maize, will head to Lebanon. More ships will follow, he said.
Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine has sparked a global food and energy crisis and the United Nations has warned of the risk of multiple famines this year.
Russia and Ukraine account for almost a third of world wheat exports. But Western sanctions on Russia and fighting along Ukraine’s east coast have prevented grain ships from leaving ports safely.
The agreement aims to allow safe passage for grain shipments in and out of Chornomorsk, Odesa and the port of Pivdennyi.
Ukrainian presidential officials have said 17 ships were docked in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports with nearly 600,000 tons of cargo. Of these, 16 ships contained Ukrainian grain with a total tonnage of about 580,000 tons.
Moscow has denied responsibility for the food crisis, blaming Western sanctions for slowing exports and Ukraine for exploiting approaches to its ports.
BOMBARDMENT OF PORTS
Despite the advance in grain shipments, the war continued elsewhere.
Russian missiles hit Mykolaiv on Sunday, a port city on the estuary of the Bug River off the Black Sea bordering the mostly Russian-held Kherson region.
Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych said more than 12 rocket attacks, probably the most powerful in the city in five months of war, hit homes and schools, killing two people and wounding three.
Ukrainian grain magnate Oleksiy Vadatursky, founder and owner of the agricultural company Nibulon, and his wife were killed in their home, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim told Telegram.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described Vadatursky’s death as “a great loss for all of Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy said the businessman – one of Ukraine’s richest with Forbes estimating his net worth in 2021 at $430 million – had been building a modern grain market with a network of transshipment terminals and elevators.
“It is these people, these companies, precisely the south of Ukraine, who have guaranteed the world’s food security,” Zelenskiy said in his evening speech. “This has always been so. And it will be so once more.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine may harvest only half its usual amount this year due to the disruption of agriculture by the war. Farmers have reported trying to harvest amid Russian shelling of their fields and nearby towns and villages.
Zelenskiy said Russia has been transferring some forces from the eastern Donbas region to the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhizhya.
After failing to quickly capture the capital Kyiv early in the war, Russia has turned its forces to eastern and southern Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine in what it called a “special operation” to demilitarize its neighbor. Ukraine and Western nations have rejected it as a baseless pretext for war.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, and Kyiv says Moscow is trying to do the same with the Donbas region and link it to Crimea to the south. Russian-backed separatists controlled parts of the region before the invasion.
Sign up now for FREE, unlimited access to Reuters.com
Sign up
Reuters bureau reports; Written by Michael Perry and Angus MacSwan; Editing by Nick Macfie
Our standards: the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.