According to Ukrainian and Turkish officials, a ship carrying grain departed the Ukrainian port of Odesa for Lebanon on Monday in accordance with a safe passage agreement.
This was the first departure since the Russian invasion cut off transportation via the Black Sea five months ago. The foreign minister of Ukraine referred to it as "a day of relief for the world," particularly for nations that were at risk of food shortages and famine as a result of the halted supplies.
First Ukraine Ship Carrying Grain Export Sails
The trip was made possible because to a deal between Russia and Ukraine to transport grains and fertilizer that was mediated by Turkey and the UN last month. The ship Razoni, which is registered in Sierra Leone, is scheduled to sail to Lebanon, according to the Turkish defense minister.
The United Nations has issued a warning about the possibility of numerous famines this year as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Reuters reported. Nearly a third of the world's wheat exports come from Russia and Ukraine. However, war along Ukraine's eastern shoreline and Western sanctions against Russia have stopped grain shipments from safely departing ports.
The agreement intends to ensure the safe transit of grain shipments into and out of the ports of Pivdennyi, Chornomorsk, and Odesa. Moscow has denied being to blame for the food crisis, blaming Ukrainian mining on the approaches to its ports and Western sanctions for impeding exports.
The Razoni will anchor in the Bosphorus off Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon, according to Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar, when a combined team of Russian, Ukrainian, United Nations, and Turkish personnel will inspect it. According to officials of the Ukrainian administration, 17 ships are scheduled to depart at Black Sea ports with about 600,000 tonnes of cargo, primarily grains, with more ships will follow.
Importance of Russia-Ukraine Grain Deal
Per NY Post, the agreements also let Russia to export fertilizer and grain. The shipments, according to Kubrakov, would also improve Ukraine's war-torned economy. Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko of Donetsk reiterated his stern request for everyone to depart. He highlighted how important it was to get the remaining 52,000 children out of the area.
Two persons in Kharkiv were hurt by a Russian attack in the early morning. One person was harmed while waiting at a bus stop for a bus, while another person was hurt when a Russian shell went off close to an apartment complex.
Repeated shelling in the southern city of Mykolaiv led to fires near a hospital and the destruction of a consignment of humanitarian goods that contained food and medications. Analysts said that the ongoing conflict may endanger the grain agreement, alarmed clients.
The top grain exporters in the world are Ukraine and Russia, but the conflict resulted in a de facto blockade of the Black Sea. As a result, Ukraine's exports fell to a sixth of what they were before the conflict, and grain prices rose.
Around 47 million people are currently experiencing "acute anger" as a result of the effects of the conflict, according to the UN's World Food Program. Injecting more wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer, and other items into the global market would help prevent famine and will also meet humanitarian needs, according to the agreement on reopening closed Black Sea transport channels last month.
It aims to export five million metric tons of grain per month, the pre-war amount. Oleksandr Kubrakov, the minister of infrastructure for Ukraine, said that the shipments will bring in at least $1 billion in foreign exchange earnings and provide the agricultural industry a chance to make plans for the next year, as per Al Jazeera via MSN.
Related Article: Ukraine's Largest Grain Export Company Owner Killed by Mykolaiv Shelling as Shipments Set To Resume
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