Record wartime amount of grain has left Ukrainian ports on Oct. 31 – despite Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal and the Kremlin’s warning that shipments without its consent would be “more risky” and “dangerous,” Sky News reports.
“Twelve vessels set off from Ukrainian ports on Monday – two days after Moscow suspended its role in the Turkey and UN-brokered Black Sea grain export deal in retaliation for a drone attack on Russia’s Sevastopol-based Black Sea fleet on the Russian-annexed Crimea Peninsula,” the Sky News story reads.
According to Odesa’s military administration, the twelve vessels carry 354,500 tonnes of agricultural products, “including 40,000 tonnes of grain on the Ikaria Angel, a vessel headed for Ethiopia, where a severe drought is affecting millions of people.”
On Sunday, the United Nations, Turkey and Ukraine “agreed on an Oct. 31 movement plan for 16 vessels that are in Turkish waters, a day after Russia suspended its participation to the Black Sea grain initiative that allowed food exports from Ukrainian ports,” according to Reuters.
Photo: “Cargo ships loaded with grain at the southern entrance to the Bosphorus strait, Turkey, on Monday” (Sky News)
