The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa on Monday as part of an internationally brokered deal to unfreeze the embattled country’s agricultural exports and ease a growing global food crisis. The Sierra Leone-flagged cargo ship Razoni blew its horn as it departed with over 26,000 tonnes of maize bound for Lebanon. “The first grain ship after Russian aggression has left the port,” Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Twitter. Russia and Ukraine signed agreements in Istanbul with Turkey and the UN on July 22, clearing the way for Ukraine to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products stuck in Black Sea ports because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to more than five months ago. The agreements also allow Russia to export grain and fertilizer. As part of the agreements, safe corridors were established through the mined waters outside Ukraine’s ports. Ukraine and Russia are major global suppliers of wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil, with the fertile Black Sea region long known as Europe’s breadbasket. The suspension of shipments due to the war has exacerbated rising food prices worldwide and threatened hunger and political instability in developing countries. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listened carefully. Calling the mission “the first positive signal that there is an opportunity to stop the spread of a food crisis in the world,” he also urged international partners to closely monitor Moscow’s compliance with the agreement. “We cannot be under any illusions that Russia will simply refrain from trying to disrupt Ukrainian exports,” Zelensky said. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov hailed the ship’s departure as “very positive”, saying it would help test the “effectiveness of the mechanisms agreed during the talks in Istanbul”. Under the agreements, ships entering and leaving Ukrainian ports will be subject to inspection to ensure that incoming ships do not carry weapons and that outgoing ships only carry grain, fertilizer or related food items and no other goods. The Razoni was due to dock early Wednesday in Istanbul, where teams of Russians, Ukrainians, Turks and UN officials were due to board it for an inspection. More ships are expected to depart from Ukrainian ports through the safe corridors. In Odessa, 16 more ships, all blocked by Russia’s February 24 invasion, were awaiting their turn, with more to follow, Ukrainian authorities said. However, some shipping companies are not yet in a rush to export food in the Black Sea, as they assess the risk of mines and the risk of Russian missiles hitting grain depots and ports. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who proposed the grain deal in April, said the Razoni was “loaded with two commodities in short supply: corn and hope.” “Hope for millions of people around the world who depend on the smooth operation of Ukraine’s ports to feed their families,” he said. Lebanon, the destination of corn, is in the grips of a serious economic crisis. A 2020 explosion in Beirut’s central port destroyed its capital and destroyed grain silos. Lebanon mainly imports wheat from Ukraine, but also buys its corn to make cooking oil and animal feed. Kubrakov said the missions would also help Ukraine’s war-torn economy. “The unlocking of 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,” he said. Olena Vitalievna, a resident of Odessa, was thrilled to hear the ship sounding its horn as it left the port. “Finally, life is starting to move forward and there are some changes in a positive direction,” he said. “In general, the port should live its own life, because Odessa is a port city. We live here. We want everything to work for us, everything to bustle.” The resumption of grain shipments came as fighting raged elsewhere in Ukraine, with Russia pressing its offensive in the east and Ukraine trying to recapture territory in the Russian-held south. Ukraine’s presidential office announced that at least three civilians were killed and 16 wounded by Russian shelling in the Donetsk region over the past 24 hours. Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko repeated the call for all residents to leave, stressing the need to evacuate the estimated 52,000 children still there. Two civilians were killed and two were seriously injured when Russian forces fired rockets at a bus transporting people from a village in the southern Kherson region, according to Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration in the city of Kryvyi Rih. Ukrainian authorities are calling on civilians in the area, which was seized by Russian troops early in the war, to evacuate ahead of a planned counter-offensive. More shelling was reported in Kharkiv in the northeast and Mykolaiv in the south. Analysts warned that continued fighting could derail the grain deal. “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,” said Volodymyr Sidenko, an expert at the Kyiv-based Razumkov Center . think tank. In other developments: — In Washington, US President Joe Biden approved an additional US$550 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more ammunition for shells and for the new American-supplied multiple rocket launchers that are making a difference on the battlefield. The package brings total US military aid to Ukraine to about US$8.7 billion since the start of the Biden administration. — Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman said he has written to his Russian counterpart proposing a joint visit to Olenivka prison, where dozens of Ukrainian prisoners were killed in an explosion on Friday. Dmitry Lubets said that the Russian side has indicated that it will consider it. Both sides have blamed each other for the blast at the prison, which is on Russian-controlled territory. Ukrainian officials say the explosion was caused by a bomb that exploded inside the building. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also requested access to the prison, but has so far been denied. —— Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Jon Gambrell in Dubai contributed.
First 🇺🇦 grain ship after #RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries and the @UN 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. pic.twitter.com/jOz3bdmdfB — Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) August 1, 2022
