A joint civil inspection team spent three hours inspecting the cargo and crew of the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which left Odessa on Monday carrying Ukrainian corn, a UN statement said. The Joint Coordination Center team included officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, which signed agreements last month to create safe shipping lanes in the Black Sea to export Ukraine’s desperately needed agricultural products, as Russia’s war against its neighbor continues. Ukraine is a major global supplier of grain, but the war had blocked most exports, so the July 22 deal was aimed at facilitating food security around the world. Global food prices have soared in a crisis caused by war, supply chain problems and COVID-19. Although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Razoni’s trip “an important step”, no other ships have left Ukraine in the past 48 hours and no explanation has been given for this delay. A UN statement said inspectors “gained valuable information” from the Razoni’s crew about its journey through the Black Sea maritime humanitarian corridor and the coordination center was “detailing procedures”. Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense tweeted an image of an inspector reaching into Razoni’s hold and touching some of its 26,527 tons of corn for chicken feed. Razoni’s horn blew as the inspectors left the ship and then headed for Lebanon. The controls seek to ensure that outgoing cargo ships carry only grain, fertilizer or food and no other goods, and that incoming ships do not carry weapons. An estimated 20 million tonnes of grain — most of which is said to be for livestock — has been stuck in Ukraine since the six-month war began. Ukraine’s top diplomat said on Wednesday that more ships are ready to transport much-needed grain and food from the country’s Black Sea ports. “More ships are already ready to depart. They will depart from the ports that are part of the grain initiative according to the agreed schedule, and we hope that everything will go well and the Russian Federation will not take any measures that will destroy these agreements,” said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. joint press conference in Kyiv with his Estonian counterpart. Kuleba said the UN-backed deal “is beneficial for Ukrainian farmers, it is beneficial for the Ukrainian economy and it is beneficial for the world.” “Now it is Ukraine that is literally saving the world from further increases in food prices and from starvation in individual countries,” he said. However, a trip to the Black Sea carries significant risks due to the war. Two civilian ships struck explosive devices there last week near the mouth of the Danube’s Bystre River, according to Bridget Diakun, a data reporter at Lloyd’s List, a global shipping publication. Analysts say the authorities’ first priority is to get out ships that have been stuck for months in the three Ukrainian ports covered by the deal. Sixteen ships loaded with grain have been stuck in the ports of Odessa and Chernomorsk since the Russian invasion, according to Lloyd’s List. Even slower than that is trying to get ships into Ukrainian ports to mine the millions of tons of grain in storage. Insurance brokers are “cautious, slow, so far,” said David Osler, insurance editor at Lloyd’s List. “At this stage, everyone is hesitant.” Grain stocks are expected to continue to rise. Despite the war, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smykhal estimated that his country would harvest up to 67 million tons of grain this year, up from 60 million tons last year. A senior official of a leading Ukrainian agricultural association estimated that Ukraine will have about 50 million tonnes of grain to export this year. Before the war, Ukraine exported about 5-6 million tons of grain a month, according to Denis Marchuk, deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council. He said Ukrainian authorities hope to include more Black Sea ports in the export deal. In other news on Wednesday: __ Russian forces continued their shelling of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv. Regional governor Vitaly Kim said the shelling damaged a wharf, an industrial plant, residential buildings, a garage cooperative, a supermarket and a pharmacy. Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych told The Associated Press that 131 civilians have been killed so far in the city by Russian shelling and another 590 have been seriously injured. __ The Ukrainian military said Ukrainian forces had repelled more than a dozen Russian offensives in the key eastern province of Donetsk and claimed that none of the Russian attempts to advance in the previous 24 hours had been successful. However, Russian shelling killed at least four civilians in Donetsk province, Ukraine’s presidential office said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered everyone in the war-torn province to evacuate as soon as possible. __ The U.N. chief says he is appointing a fact-finding mission in response to Russian and Ukrainian requests to investigate an explosion at a POW prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine that reportedly killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and injured 75 others. U.N. Secretary -General Antonio Guterres told reporters that he does not have the authority to conduct criminal investigations, but he does have the authority to conduct fact-finding missions. Both sides said last Friday’s attack was premeditated to cover up the atrocities. __ Moscow has sharply reduced the amount of natural gas it sends to Europe, sparking fears it could stop sending the much-needed fuel. Across Europe, nations are rushing to reduce energy use this summer so they can fill gas storage tanks for the cold winter ahead.


Robert Badendieck and Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, Joanna Kozlowska in London and Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.


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title: “Inspectors Board Ukraine S 1St Grain Ship But No Sign Yet Of More " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-06” author: “Ronald Davis”


A joint civil inspection team spent three hours inspecting the cargo and crew of the Sierra Leone-flagged ship Razoni, which left Odessa on Monday carrying Ukrainian corn, a UN statement said. The Joint Coordination Center team included officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations, which signed agreements last month to create safe shipping lanes in the Black Sea to export Ukraine’s desperately needed agricultural products, as Russia’s war against its neighbor continues. Ukraine is a major global supplier of grain, but the war had blocked most exports, so the July 22 deal was aimed at facilitating food security around the world. Global food prices have soared in a crisis caused by war, supply chain problems and COVID-19. Although US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Razoni’s trip “an important step”, no other ships have left Ukraine in the past 48 hours and no explanation has been given for this delay. A UN statement said inspectors “gained valuable information” from the Razoni’s crew about its journey through the Black Sea maritime humanitarian corridor and the coordination center was “detailing procedures”. Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense tweeted an image of an inspector reaching into Razoni’s hold and touching some of its 26,527 tons of corn for chicken feed. Razoni’s horn blew as the inspectors left the ship and then headed for Lebanon. The controls seek to ensure that outgoing cargo ships carry only grain, fertilizer or food and no other goods, and that incoming ships do not carry weapons. An estimated 20 million tonnes of grain — most of which is said to be for livestock — has been stuck in Ukraine since the six-month war began. Ukraine’s top diplomat said on Wednesday that more ships are ready to transport much-needed grain and food from the country’s Black Sea ports. “More ships are already ready to depart. They will depart from the ports that are part of the grain initiative according to the agreed schedule, and we hope that everything will go well and the Russian Federation will not take any measures that will destroy these agreements,” said Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. joint press conference in Kyiv with his Estonian counterpart. Kuleba said the UN-backed deal “is beneficial for Ukrainian farmers, it is beneficial for the Ukrainian economy and it is beneficial for the world.” “Now it is Ukraine that is literally saving the world from further increases in food prices and from starvation in individual countries,” he said. However, a trip to the Black Sea carries significant risks due to the war. Two civilian ships struck explosive devices there last week near the mouth of the Danube’s Bystre River, according to Bridget Diakun, a data reporter at Lloyd’s List, a global shipping publication. Analysts say the authorities’ first priority is to get out ships that have been stuck for months in the three Ukrainian ports covered by the deal. Sixteen ships loaded with grain have been stuck in the ports of Odessa and Chernomorsk since the Russian invasion, according to Lloyd’s List. Even slower than that is trying to get ships to Ukrainian ports to mine the millions of tons of grain in storage. Insurance brokers are “cautious, slow, so far,” said David Osler, insurance editor at Lloyd’s List. “At this stage, everyone is hesitant.” Grain stocks are expected to continue to rise. Despite the war, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smykhal estimated that his country would harvest up to 67 million tons of grain this year, up from 60 million tons last year. A senior official of a leading Ukrainian agricultural association estimated that Ukraine will have about 50 million tonnes of grain to export this year. Before the war, Ukraine exported about 5-6 million tons of grain a month, according to Denis Marchuk, deputy head of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council. He said Ukrainian authorities hope to include more Black Sea ports in the export deal. In other news on Wednesday: __ Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy referred to Russia as “number one” among the world’s sponsors of terror and called for the creation of a strengthened global security architecture “that ensures that no state can ever resort to terror against another state.” In his overnight speech, Zelensky referred to the explosion at a prison in eastern Ukraine that killed more than 50 Ukrainian prisoners and injured 75 others. Ukrainian and Russian officials have accused each other of deliberately destroying parts of the prison complex to cover up atrocities. __ Russian forces continued their shelling of the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv. Regional governor Vitaly Kim said the shelling damaged a wharf, an industrial plant, residential buildings, a garage cooperative, a supermarket and a pharmacy. Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych told The Associated Press that 131 civilians have been killed so far in the city by Russian shelling and another 590 have been seriously injured. __ The Ukrainian military said Ukrainian forces had repelled more than a dozen Russian offensives in the key eastern province of Donetsk and claimed that none of the Russian attempts to advance in the previous 24 hours had been successful. However, Russian shelling killed at least four civilians in Donetsk province, Ukraine’s presidential office said. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered everyone in the war-torn province to evacuate as soon as possible. __ The U.N. chief says he is appointing a fact-finding mission in response to Russian and Ukrainian requests to investigate an explosion at a POW prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine that reportedly killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and injured 75 others. U.N. Secretary -General Antonio Guterres told reporters that he does not have the authority to conduct criminal investigations, but he does have the authority to conduct fact-finding missions. Both sides said last Friday’s attack was premeditated to cover up the atrocities. __ Moscow has sharply reduced the amount of natural gas it sends to Europe, sparking fears it could stop sending the much-needed fuel. Across Europe, nations are rushing to reduce energy use this summer so they can fill gas storage tanks for the cold winter ahead.


Robert Badendieck and Mehmet Guzel in Istanbul, Aya Batrawy in Dubai, Joanna Kozlowska in London and Edith Lederer in New York contributed to this report.


Follow AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at