Four more grain ships leave Ukrainian ports

Four more ships carrying foodstuffs have left Ukraine's ports, Türkiye's Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a visit to the Odesa grain port, in Odesa, Ukraine, 19 August 2022. Guterres arrived in Ukraine the previous day to meet with President Zelensky and Turkish President Erdogan for talks on improving the grain initiative and the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

Photo: EPA/STR

This brings the total number of vessels to leave Ukraine's Black Sea ports under a UN-brokered grain export deal to 31, according to Reuters.

In July, Ukraine and Russia came to an agreement with the UN and Türkiye to restore shipments of food from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea.

As part of the agreement, 27 ships carrying some 670,000 tonnes of grain have left Ukrainian ports.

The move aims to address global food insecurity and throw a lifeline to the hunger-stricken African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan.

Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine exported up to 6 million tons of grain per month from its Black Sea and Sea of Azov ports.

Sunday is day 179 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(ał)

Source: PAP, Reuters