First grain ship sets off from Ukraine’s Odesa

A cargo ship carrying over 26,000 tonnes of corn left the Ukrainian port of Odesa on Monday under a safe passage agreement, the Turkish Defense Ministry said. The ship, bound for Tripoli in Lebanon will be in Istanbul on Tuesday for an inspection.

"The ship Razoni has left the port of Odessa bound for Tripoli in Lebanon. It is expected in Istanbul on August 2. It will then continue its journey after it has been inspected in Istanbul," the ministry said.

The sailing was made possible after Turkey and the United Nations brokered a grain-and-fertiliser export agreement between Russia and Ukraine last month.

Russian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov also gave the news on Twitter: 

The first ???????? grain ship since #RussianAggression has left port. Thanks to the support of all our partner countries & @UN we were able to full implement the Agreement signed in Istanbul. It’s important for us to be one of the guarantors of ???? food security. pic.twitter.com/jOz3bdmdfB

— Oleksandr Kubrakov (@OlKubrakov) August 1, 2022

More ships will follow, both sides said. 

According to Ukrainian officials, 17 ships were docked in Ukraine's Black Sea ports with almost 600,000 tonnes of cargo.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 has led to a worldwide food and energy crisis and the United Nations has warned of the risk multiple famines this year.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat exports. But Western sanctions on Russia and fighting along Ukraine's eastern seaboard have prevented grain ships safely leaving ports.