Ukraine announced this Saturday that, for the first time since the end of the grain deal with Russia, two cargo ships are currently sailing in the Black Sea towards Ukrainian ports.
“The first civilian ships use the temporary corridor to return to Ukrainian ports,” announced the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, Oleksandre Kubrakov, through the social network Facebook.
According to the minister, the cargo ships “Resilient Africa” and “Aroyat” confirmed that they were sailing to the port of Tchornomorsk to load around 20 thousand tons of wheat, destined for Africa and Asia.
The two ships, crewed by citizens of Ukraine, Turkey, Egypt and Azerbaijan, are the first, since mid-July, to sail to the country’s southern ports, despite the fact that Russia has reiterated that it will consider them enemies.
In the opposite direction, towards the Bosphorus Strait, “five cargo ships used the temporary corridor” implemented by kyiv, the official added.
In mid-July, Russia abandoned the grain agreement signed with Ukraine, under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkey, in the summer of 2022, to allow, in the current context of war, the export of Ukrainian grains, crucial for security. world food.
Moscow subsequently carried out a bombing campaign against Ukraine’s port and grain infrastructure, destroying 270,000 tons of grain in one month, according to an assessment by Ukrainian authorities in August.
The Russian military offensive against Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, caused the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II (1939-1945). The exact number of civilian and military victims in the war that has lasted almost 19 months is unknown, but several sources, including the United Nations, estimate that they are high.
At the end of September 2022, Russia announced the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, which joined Crimea, annexed in 2014.
kyiv and most of the international community consider the annexations illegal and therefore do not recognize Russian sovereignty in the five territories.
The Russian invasion – justified by Russian President Vladimir Putin with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security – was condemned by most of the international community, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and sanctions. economic against Russia.
Ukraine demands the withdrawal of Russian troops from all its territory, including Crimea, returning to the borders of 1991, when it became independent from the Soviet Union.
Source: TSF
