A ship carrying wheat left a Ukrainian port on the Black Sea on Tuesday despite repeated threats from Moscow to attack the ships, Ukrainian authorities said.
“The ship Resilient Africa, with three tons of wheat on board, has left the port of Chornomorsk and is heading for the Bosphorus,” Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandre Koubrakov said via social network X.
In July, Moscow left an agreement that allowed the export of Ukrainian agricultural products through the Black Sea, essential for the country’s economy and global food security.
In response, Ukraine is seeking to establish maritime corridors of allied countries from Kiev to the Bosphorus, defying Russian threats to sink ships entering and leaving Ukrainian ports.
According to the minister, the ship was one of two that entered the port of Chernomorsk last week.
The second ship is still in port and is being loaded with wheat destined for Egypt, he added.
Ukraine announced on Saturday that these two cargo ships, ‘Resilient Africa’ and the Palau-flagged ‘Aroyat’, were sailing in the Black Sea towards ports in the south of the country.
In mid-July, Moscow withdrew from the grain deal signed in the summer of 2022 under the auspices of the UN and Turkey, which allowed the export of nearly 33 million tons of Ukrainian grains and other food products through the Black Sea.
Since July, Russia has been carrying out a bombing campaign on Ukraine’s port and grain infrastructure.
According to Kiev, Russia plans to prevent any export attempt.
Moscow claims to be hitting “military targets.”
Source: DN
