The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni left Odessa for Lebanon, Turkey’s Defense Ministry announced. According to a United Nations statement, the Razoni was carrying more than 26,000 tons of corn. Data from Razoni’s automatic identification system, a safety monitoring system for ships at sea, showed the vessel slowly leaving its port in the port of Odessa on Monday morning along with a tugboat. Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweeted a video of the large cargo ship honking its horn as it headed out to sea. “The first grain ship after the Russian aggression has left the port,” Kubrakov wrote on Twitter. “Thanks to the support of all our partner countries and the United Nations, we were able to fully implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul. It is important for us to be one of the guarantors of food security.” The ship is expected to arrive in Istanbul on Tuesday, where it will be inspected before being allowed to proceed, the ministry said. The corn will then head to Lebanon, a tiny Middle Eastern nation in the grips of what the World Bank has described as one of the world’s worst economic crises in more than 150 years. A 2020 explosion in Beirut’s central port devastated the capital and destroyed grain silos there, part of which collapsed after a week-long fire as recently as Sunday. As the Razoni moved into the open waters of the Black Sea, it changed destination from Istanbul to Tripoli, Lebanon. The Turkish ministry’s statement said other ships would also depart from Ukrainian ports through the safe corridors, according to agreements signed in Istanbul on July 22, but gave no further details. Russia and Ukraine signed separate deals with Turkey and the UN, paving the way for Ukraine – one of the world’s breadbaskets – to export 22 million tonnes of grain and other agricultural goods stuck in Black Sea ports because of the invasion of Russia. The agreements also allow Russia to export grain and fertilizer. Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said 16 more ships, all blocked since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on February 24, were awaiting their turn at Odessa’s ports. Kubrakov said the missions would also help Ukraine’s war-torn economy. “Unlocking the ports will provide at least $1 billion in foreign exchange earnings to the economy and an opportunity for the agricultural sector to plan for the coming year,” Kubrakov said. The United Nations welcomed the development, saying in a statement that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hoped it would be just the first of many merchant ships carrying Ukrainian grain abroad and “bring much-needed stability and relief to global food security, especially in the most fragile humanitarian contexts”. The resumption of grain shipments came as fighting raged elsewhere in Ukraine. Ukraine’s presidential office announced that at least three civilians were killed and 16 others wounded by Russian shelling in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours. Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko repeated a strong appeal for all residents to evacuate. He particularly emphasized the need to remove some 52,000 children who still remain in the region. In Kharkiv, two people were injured by a Russian strike in the morning. One was injured while waiting for a bus at a bus stop and another was injured when a Russian shell exploded near an apartment building. The southern city of Mykolaiv also faced repeated shelling, which caused fires near a medical facility, destroying a humanitarian aid shipment containing medicine and food. Analysts warned that the ongoing battle could threaten the grain deal, making customers nervous. “The risk remains: The Odesa region faces constant shelling and only regular supplies could prove the viability of the agreements signed,” said Volodymyr Sidenko, an expert at the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center think-tank. “The departure of the first boat does not solve the food crisis, it is just the first step that could be the last if Russia decides to continue its attacks in the south.”
Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.
